Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch
by TeenTypist
Summary: This takes place in Harry's 6th Year. This is the sequal to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (mine that is, not Rowlings!) This is rated PG because there's some kiss scenes.
1. Midnight Flight

Harry Potter hit the ground with a soft thud. He hid behind the bush and made sure no one was looking when he stood up with his broomstick in one hand and a silvery cloak clutched in the other. He slipped into the dark house, careful not to wake the sleeping Dursleys upstairs. Silent as a shadow, he crept up to his own room. He slipped the broomstick and the cloak in the trunk at the end of his bed and put on his pajamas. The clock on his nightstand read 12:08. His birthday had ended nine minutes ago but it was the best one he had had in years. He had received cards, presents, and cake from his friends and his godfather. Unbeknownst to his slumbering relatives, he had just spent hours flying invisibly. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.  
The morning sun shined through the window in Harry's room as he woke. This house appeared to be as normal as any other house on the street, but it wasn't. It was far from normal; though Harry's room was the only strange sight in the house, it was incredibly odd. There was an owl cage on top of the wardrobe with a snowy owl in it; at the moment the owl was asleep, having been out hunting during the night. The desk over against one wall was covered with pieces of parchment, quills, and inkbottles. At the end of the bed there was a large trunk, which was opened to reveal: robes, socks, cloaks, books with strange titles, a broom with the word Firebolt on it, a cauldron, and a wand among other assorted items.  
Now there was a very good reason that Harry's room looked the way it did. It's because Harry Potter was a wizard.  
Harry Potter, orphaned since he was a year old, has been living with his abominable, yet unfortunately only, relatives, the Dursleys of number 4 Privet Drive. They hated and feared all things magic related and tried to keep Harry as downtrodden as possible in an effort to stamp out any magic or abnormality about him.  
Unfortunately for them, this treatment did not keep Harry from discovering he was a wizard on his eleventh birthday or from spending most of the last five years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry-though as far as neighbors and relatives knew, Harry was at St. Brutus' Center for Incurably Criminal Boys. On the first of September he would be starting his sixth year there.  
Hogwarts was an interesting place, to say the least. There you were likely to acquire strange injuries (like the loss of all the bones in your arm), serve your detention by doing something like pickling toads for example, and for fun, you could end the day by flying around on broomsticks.  
But Harry happened to be extraordinary, even by wizard standards. He had survived one of the most terrible curses in existence, a death curse that couldn't be blocked and couldn't be survived. But he had done it; though he wasn't sure how. No was really sure how such a small baby had survived against such a malevolent man. Voldemort, the most powerful evil wizard of the century had killed so many innocent people with it but when he tried to kill Harry the spell rebounded on him, destroying his body and leaving Harry with a mere lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead as a token. Now, Voldemort wanted his revenge on the boy who had cost him everything.  
Harry knew that the danger was ever present but that there were places he was safe. The only two places he was completely safe however were Hogwarts and number 4 Privet Drive. He was at number 4 right now and he didn't like it anymore than he usually did, which was to say he didn't like it at all.  
Things were better however for Harry this summer, however. Letters from his godfather came much more frequently. Harry even had hopes that his godfather, Sirius Black, would be able to take him away from the Dursleys eventually. Sirius was a wizard and for fourteen years everyone in the wizarding world thought he had been responsible for murdering twelve Muggles and a wizard named Peter Pettigrew. Only just last year Sirius had been proven innocent, but because of rechecking evidence and all the legal procedures the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, had sent Harry home to the Dursleys, again. Though Harry expected he was sent here more for his safety than any reason with the courts.  
So here Harry was, anxiously counting down the days until he could happily return to Hogwarts and see his friends once more. Ron Weasly, Hermione Granger, and Renata Delano were his best friends. He had known Ron and Hermione since his first year at Hogwarts and they'd been best friends ever since. He had met Renata last summer. Harry had spent a lot of yesterday writing letters to his friends in response to those he had received from them. The letters (which had come with cakes and presents) and his late night flight were the only celebration he had yesterday. It had been years since the Dursleys had acknowledged Harry's birthday, let alone celebrate it. He had stopped caring about it long ago. He went down to breakfast.  
When he reached the tidy kitchen downstairs none of his relatives made any move to show that they recognized Harry's entrance. He sat and helped himself to some low-fat, whole-grain toast.  
He didn't pay the slightest attention as his Uncle Vernon droned on about his drill making company called Grunnings and new business deals that were coming up. Vernon's wife and son were oblivious and didn't pay any attention either. Dudley's little piggy eyes were glued to the television screen as he crammed the horrible tasting food in his mouth. His mother, Harry's Aunt Petunia was watching out the window with her beady eyes, spying on her neighbors.  
Harry finished eating and went back to the solitude of his room, the only place where he could get peace. He sighed. His teachers had given him a lot of homework to take care of over the summer holidays. Harry decided to start the day with an essay for History of Magic teacher, Professor Binns. He was the only ghost teacher at Hogwarts. Professor Binns had been teaching at Hogwarts for many years and the only difference his death made in his schedule was that he entered the classroom through the blackboard instead of the door. Some students thought he might not even know he was dead. The essay was dull to say the very least and full of the driest facts Harry had ever been forced to read. He spent nearly three hours to complete the essay, "Wizards Live Naturally Long Lives-Explain."  
When he was done he ate part of one of his birthday cakes. He looked around the room for his owl, only to find that Hedwig was away from her cage.  
"She'll be back soon." He wasn't worried. Hedwig often disappeared for days at time. With not much else to do Harry took out the cloak he had worn the night before and his broom. The cloak was an invisibility cloak Harry had inherited from his father, it was extremely rare and extremely valuable, but something Harry would never part with.  
Harry knew the Dursleys would lock him in his room if they knew what he was doing. They'd done it before; padlocked him in the room, fitted the window with bars, and only let him out a few times a day to use the toilet. He didn't care, it was worth the risk; he wouldn't let them find out. Harry crept downstairs under the invisibility cloak; he made sure the Dursleys were unaware of his presence before he slipped out the door. When he was a little ways from the house, Harry shot in the air on his broom. It was hot under the cloak, but Harry was willing to endure it. Anything, to get out of the house and away from his bullying cousin and his friends.  
Harry flew for a while and on his unhappy way back to Privet Drive he stopped at the home of Mrs. Figg.  
He landed in her backyard. It was surrounded on all sides by a high fence and the perfect place to land and take off the cloak. After he cooled off a moment he knocked on the backdoor, his cloak in one hand and the broom in the other.  
A few minutes later a middle-aged woman came to the door. "Yes? Hello, Harry. Stopping by on your way back home, I trust?"  
"Yes, Mrs. Figg."  
"One of these days your aunt and uncle will notice that you keep going missing. You're all hot and sweaty. Come in and have a glass of water." She led him in and sat him down at the kitchen table.  
"They wouldn't care if I was missing. They'd be glad. You know they don't want me around anymore than I want to be around them."  
"I know, Harry, but still you must be more careful."  
"None of the neighbors notice the owls that come through my window. And I don't see how they can notice when I fly, if I am invisible."  
"All the same, Harry."  
"I know."  
"Your aunt and uncle will take you to Diagon Alley before term starts, right?"  
"I may be able to talk them into dropping me off outside the Leaky Cauldron." Harry said doubtfully. "But they wouldn't go into Diagon Alley with me to get my new Hogwarts books." He didn't want them to come anyway. Imagining their reaction to Diagon Alley was interesting though.  
"Well, if you can't get them to take you, be sure to let me know."  
"But you couldn't bring me. They don't know that you're a witch."  
"No, but they may need to be called away suddenly and need an old neighbor to make sure you don't blow up the house." She smiled.  
"Thanks, Mrs. Figg. I really should be going now."  
"Goodbye, Harry."  
"Goodbye." He left through the door he had entered by and put his cloak back on. He took off on his broom and finished the short flight home.  
  
He landed a little ways from the Dursley's home. Still wearing the cloak and clutching the broom under it, he quietly went inside and up to his room only narrowly avoiding Dudley and his friends who had come in to the house only a few moments before.  
He collapsed on the bed and found a visitor in his room. He went over to the owl that must have come into the room while he had been gone.  
The little owl, gray and the size of a tennis ball, seemed thrilled to be there to deliver the letter. Harry caught the owl in his hands. "Settle down, Pig!" he laughed. The little owl was far from looking like a pig of any sort and he refused to settle down. Harry pulled the letter off the owl's leg and led the owl over to drink for the water in Hedwig's unoccupied cage.  
Harry opened the letter. As he had guessed, the letter was from Ron.  
  
How's your summer been? Things are great. I hope you can come visit us  
again. I'll talk to mum about it. Fred and George managed to get a  
deal to open their joke-shop. Mr. Zonko, the guy who runs the shop in  
Hogsmeade started selling some of their products and is letting them  
work there for the summer. At the end of the summer if they've done  
well enough he said he'll loan them the rest of the they need to start  
their own joke-shop and the only limit was that he would get fifteen  
percent of what they made until they pay him back. So the twins won't  
be around too much this summer. They leave early in the morning and  
don't come back 'til after dinner.  
Guess what? Percy purposed to his girlfriend! Penelope is going to be  
my sister-in-law. I dunno when the wedding will be. Probably sometime  
next summer. Ginny has been flying for weeks. It's surprising, but  
she's not half bad. You're gonna have your work cut out for you this  
year with almost an entirely new team to handle. You and Renata will  
be the only ones who've been on the team before. Well, I hope we meet  
at Diagon Alley. I gotta go now, but send Pig back pronto, I can't  
wait to hear from you.  
Ron  
  
After reading the letter Harry sat down at his desk to write a response.  
  
Ron-the summer hasn't been any worse than it usually is. It's been  
a little better actually, but not by much. I found out that with my  
cloak I can fly around at night. I don't know why I never thought  
about doing it before. It's great; no one ever catches me flying.  
This is good, because you know what the Dursleys are like.  
The twins are getting up early? I thought that world wasn't in  
their vocabulary. So when do you want to go to Diagon Alley? I  
don't know when I'd be able to come but I'll talk the Dursleys into  
something. Let me know when you're going. I'll be there. Talk to  
you soon.  
Harry  
P.S. Tell Fred and George good luck.  
Harry caught the owl again and tied the letter to his leg. Then he tossed him out the window, as if it was as regular as answering the phone.  
  
A week later Harry received more letters. In a single day Hedwig returned (again), followed by Janus, and Pig. Harry opened Hedwig's letter first because unlike the other two he wasn't positive about who had sent it. Inside was a brief note.  
  
Harry, I've got great news. I'm not going to tell you here but you'll  
know in a week or two.  
Sirius  
  
Harry moved on to read the letter from Hermione. He took the letter off Janus's leg and then the owl joined Hedwig in getting a drink from the water bowl in Hedwig's cage.  
  
Harry,  
How has your summer been? I hope you're well. I'll be in Diagon  
Alley sometime during the last week before term starts. Renata and  
her mum will probably go there when I do. I hope to see you and Ron  
there. Isn't it exciting about Percy? I do hope he and Penelope  
have a long and healthy marriage. I'm glad for Fred and George,  
too. I hope their joke-shop is successful, I trust they get a bit  
more responsible than they have been. I'll see you on September  
1st, if not sooner.  
With Love,  
Hermione  
P.S. Please finish your homework.  
  
Harry grinned. That was just like Hermione, thinking about grades and homework even in the middle of the summer! Harry folded up the letter and went to take the last letter from Pig. His real name was Pigwidgeon. Ron's sister Ginny had named the owl and afterwards he wouldn't answer to anything else so Ron shortened the owl's name to Pig.  
He opened the letter.  
  
Harry, if the Muggles say they won't take you to Diagon Alley I bet  
we could pick you up and take you. We're going the last week before  
school. I think that's when Hermione and Renata are going too.  
Write me back soon. Let me know if the Muggles give you any  
trouble. I reckon Fred and George might let me have a Canary Cream  
or a bottle of Bug Bubbles to use against them. The bug bubbles are  
new. Take one sip, burp, and for a few seconds you're a giant  
beetle. I forgot to ask earlier this summer, how did that little  
prank on Dudley go?  
Ron  
  
Harry couldn't help laughing out loud. When Harry had come home from Hogwarts for the summer holidays he had brought back a few sweets from the wizarding village near the castle, Hogsmeade. Harry had brought back an extra candy. A sherbet ball that makes the person sucking on it levitate a few inches off the ground. After scaring Dudley very bad by giving it to him to eat, Harry had been confined to his room for two weeks.  
It had been worth it as far as Harry was concerned. Watching his fat cousin, as well as his aunt and uncle go into a panic attack had made Harry laugh a bit. But his victory had been short-lived he was lucky that he hadn't been confined longer.  
Harry sighed and started the replies to his letters. He went to his desk and got some inkbottles, parchment, and a quill. He sat down to begin his answers.  
Sirius,  
I can't wait to find out whatever you were hinting at. I hope to  
see you soon. Things have been fine here. I eagerly wait for my  
return to Hogwarts, so I can get back in touch with the wizarding  
world and away from the Dursleys. They're vile as always. I still  
don't know how I'll get to Diagon Alley but I'll figure something  
out.  
Harry  
  
Harry set the letter aside and began the next one.  
Hermione, most of my homework is done. Ron and I will be in Diagon  
Alley sometime in the last week of the holidays. I got some news.  
Sirius has something he wants to tell me. I don't know what but I  
hope its good news. I think it is. I'll see you soon.  
Harry  
  
Harry responded to the final letter.  
  
Ron, Hermione and Renata will be in Diagon Alley on the last week  
before term starts. Maybe we can all pick up our new school things  
together. I hope so. I don't think the Dursleys will give me much  
more trouble, after all the summer is more than half over. I can  
always threaten them with Sirius or your brothers or something. I  
got a letter from Sirius today. Says he's got a surprise. I'll see  
you soon. By the way, that prank on Dudley went great but I was  
locked in my room for a couple of weeks.  
Harry  
  
Harry took each letter and gave it to an owl, which flew out the open window. Harry sat, watching them fly off into the distance until he could no longer see them. He heard his aunt screech from downstairs.  
"Dinner!" she screeched.  
Harry put away his writing things and went downstairs.  
His uncle was seated at the table and he glowered as he saw Harry come sit down.  
Harry made no response other than to fill his plate.  
Harry's Aunt Petunia gossiped happily to her husband, though he scarcely listened. Dudley shoveled food into his mouth. And so the meal passed without Harry saying a word. No notice was taken of him except for an occasional glare from his uncle.  
  
Three days later Harry received another letter. This was an owl he had only seen a few times before but he recognized it all the same and eagerly opened the envelope and took out the letter to read.  
  
Hey, Harry! Happy B-day, another year older, maybe another year  
wiser; though I doubt the wiser part. What's up? FYI (for your  
information) I'm going to be at Diagon Alley two days before we go  
back to Hogwarts again. What day is that? Okay, so I'll be there on  
the 30th of August. I think that's when Ron and Hermione are going  
there too, isn't it? If you can, that's when you should come. We  
can all shop together that way. Let me know if you'll be there or  
not. I'll see you soon. If I don't see you at Diagon Alley I'll see  
you at the station or on the train on September 1. Have a good rest  
of the summer and write back.  
Renata Delano  
  
Harry folded the letter up, and then decided to go back for a second reading. And then a third as well. Afterwards he felt rather foolish and embarrassed to himself that he had done so. He took out a bottle of green ink and a fresh piece of parchment. As he wrote he looked at the ink realizing the green was the same shade as his eyes. He began to write.  
He almost started writing. He put his quill to the paper and wasn't exactly sure what he wanted to say. He thought a moment, wrote something, crossed it out, wrote something else and crossed it out again. By the time he had finished it, the letter was looking messy.  
Dear Renata, how's your summer going? Mine is fine. How have you  
been doing? Is your homework finished yet? I think Snape's essay  
was really hard. I've been practicing my flying and I hope you  
have, too. We're going to be the only Gryffindors who have been on  
the team before. We're going to end up with five rookies. I hope  
our team still wins again. It will most definitely be a rebuilding  
season. I'll try to come to Diagon Alley on the 30th.  
Your friend,  
Sincerely,  
I hope to see you soon,  
Harry  
Harry looked disappointedly at the letter he had written. He wasn't extremely happy with it but it was the best he could do so he recopied it without all the crossed out words and mistakes. It would have to do. Harry went over to the owl that had delivered the letter. Harry tied the letter to its leg. The owl understood and flew off to deliver it to his owner. Harry watched as the owl soared away.  
  
Harry spent the next few days eagerly awaiting letters from Sirius, Renata, Ron, and Hermione. Sirius had written that in a week he would have a surprise for Harry. Also Harry was anxious to hear from Renata. It was always good to hear from Ron and Hermione too, he missed them. These four were really his only link to the wizarding world when he wasn't in school. A week after Sirius's letter about the surprise had arrived Harry was eating breakfast with the Dursleys who, as usual, simply ignored. Harry was just starting up the stairs when there was a knock at the door. From the other room, Harry heard his uncle bark at him.  
"Get the door, Harry!"  
With a heavy sigh Harry trudged back down the stairs and opened the front door. Harry opened the door and gasped. 


	2. Long Awaited and Much Needed Summer Fun

Harry stared, his eyes wide. "What are you doing here?"  
Renata grinned. "There're three of us standing here, Harry. Who are you talking to?"  
He still couldn't answer. His mouth was working but no sound came out.  
"It's good to see you, Harry," said Sirius.  
Harry heard his uncle roar from the kitchen, "Boy! What's the matter? Who's at the door?"  
Harry heard the scraping of chairs and several pairs of loud feet; two sets of heavy footsteps and a set of clicking heels.  
When the Dursleys arrived in the living room Aunt Petunia shrieked. "What are you doing here? I haven't seen you since.since.since-"  
Sirius frowned. "Yes, since Lily and James's wedding. I hope you've been treating Harry right. Though by what I hear, you haven't."  
Aunt Petunia couldn't speak, but Uncle Vernon found his own voice. "What is the meaning of this?" His roar changed to a loud whisper halfway through the sentence and he peered outside to check for listening neighbors. "Don't stand there!" He whispered furiously, he was trembling. "Get inside before anyone sees you!" He ushered the three guests into the room and pushed Harry away from the door, consequently slamming him into the wall. Harry rubbed his head where he had hit it and shut the door. Uncle Vernon bolted the door while Aunt Petunia closed the blinds, wearing a fearful expression on her face.  
Dudley was left just standing there; too dim to be aware of what was going on. "What's the matter?"  
Harry grinned wickedly at Dudley. "That's my godfather and these two are witches. That's what's going on Dudley."  
Dudley's fat, piggish, many-chinned face grew pale. He remembered what Harry had said about his godfather. He screamed. His father cuffed him on the neck. "Shut-up, boy! You want the whole street to hear?"  
Renata watched with amusement. "Interesting family you've got here Harry."  
Harry blushed slightly. "They're hardly family. Er-this is Renata Delano, that's her mum Jennifer Delano, and that's my godfather Sirius Black."  
Aunt Petunia's mouth went in a tight line. "I know him."  
"Yes, Petunia, that day you ran out of the wedding screaming 'you're all freaks.' And that was the last time you saw your sister. She was crushed; did you know that? I can't imagine why, but she wanted you to be there."  
Petunia couldn't collect herself enough to speak.  
Vernon spoke for her. "Now see here, sir. Why are you here?"  
"To check on Harry.and to take him away."  
Every face in the room lit up, but none more than Harry's.  
"You mean it, Sirius? Your name's been cleared? I can finally leave?"  
"It has, but you can't stay with me permanently. The Ministry said legally you can, but Dumbledore's got his reasons, for otherwise. I'll talk to you about it later on. But you can come with me the rest of the summer, I've been talking about it with Dumbledore and he said it'd be alright."  
Harry grinned broadly and his smile went from ear to ear. "When can I leave?"  
"As soon as you've packed."  
Harry raced upstairs. He had wanted to leave the Dursleys for as long as he could remember and now he finally could. When he had been younger (before Hogwarts) he'd fantasized about some unknown relative taking him away. This was his chance. Sirius and his dad had been as close as brothers, even if they were actually blood related. He tossed his cards and letters in his trunk. He put away his books and homework. Harry packed away the last of his ink and parchment; he made sure his broom and wand were packed with his robes and clothes. He slammed the trunk shut. He picked up Hedwig's cage and began to drag his trunk out into the hallway. He had only come as far as the top of the stairs when Renata met him.  
"Want a hand with the trunk?" Without waiting for an answer she picked up one end of the trunk while Harry lifted the other and put Hedwig's cage on top. They made their way down the stairs.  
Sirius and Professor Delano were talking to Harry's aunt and uncle. Harry looked around and didn't see Dudley in the room.  
Renata saw him looking and whispered, "He ran off. I told him Sirius would turn him into a slug and he scurried off at what I imagine must have been top speed for him. It probably equal the lowest land-speed for a giant tortoise."  
Harry stifled a laugh.  
Sirius became aware of Harry's presence. "Are you ready to go, Harry?"  
"Sure thing, Sirius."  
"Good." Sirius rounded on the Dursleys. "When Harry comes back here next summer you lot better treat him right or there's going to be trouble. Big trouble and it'll come out of your hides, understand?" Harry and Renata picked up the trunk once more and followed Sirius and Renata's mum out to a baby blue car. Renata and Harry hoisted the trunk into the back of the car and climbed in the back seat. Harry watched with glee as they rolled away from number four Privet Drive. He was tempted to laugh. "So where are we going?" he asked laughing and settling back into the seat. Sirius was in the passenger seat in the front and he twisted around. "When we were done with the trials, the Ministry released my old property back to me. Nobody would buy it when I was gone. We're going back there, to my old house. Jenny here, offered to drive us. It's only a few miles from where she and Renata are staying for the summer so it isn't too out of the way for them to drop us off." "Did you get a new job yet Sirius?" asked Harry. He hesitated before replying. "There is a position in consideration, people are still skittish about hiring me." "That's not fair. Pettigrew was caught he's was captured, they believe you right? They had to. They saw Peter and they had him under Veritaserum when he made his statement." "But these people have had me set in their minds as a murderer for fourteen years, Harry. That's a long time. They just need some time to adjust to a new picture of who I am." Renata smoothed out the jeans she was wearing and tightened the scrunchy that tied her hair back. "Exactly, but they'll get used to it."  
Harry only then noticed that none of his rescuers were wearing wizard robes. He pointed that out.  
"We've heard you talk about how bad the Dursleys are with anything to do with wizards, witches, magic, or anything out of the ordinary. Personally, I'm more comfortable in jeans and a tank top anyway. Sleeves bug me."  
Renata's mum looked in the rearview mirror, "Yes, we decided we would cause less of a commotion if we wore Muggle attire. I would have liked to stop by and see my friend who lives around here but we decided it would be more fun for you to get away from here as soon as possible."  
Renata asked, "What witch would want to live here? This is a Muggle community. Not a drop of magic except for Harry here."  
Harry replied, "Mrs. Figg lives only a few streets away from the Dursleys."  
"Oh, I wanted to see Bella," Renata remarked. Harry remembered her remarking once that Arabella Figg had been a family friend of hers for as long as she could remember.  
They continued driving and at the end of two hours they had reached an out of the way area up in some hills not far from a small Muggle town.  
"There's a nice little lake up here too, not far from the house. There are a few other wizard families in the area. It will be good for you to meet them. Get a chance outside of school to hang out with other wizards and witches," said Sirius. "The house is a bit messy because I haven't had much time to clean it up this summer and other than that I haven't been home in fifteen years. So bear with me Harry, it will get better."  
Harry didn't mind. As far as he was concerned, anything was better than staying with the Dursleys any longer.  
They drove up through the village and up into the hills. Finally they were there. Harry looked and saw a large house. The front of it seemed slightly run down but overall it looked solid. Sirius took Harry's trunk out of the car and carried it up to the house and inside. Harry, Renata and Professor Delano followed him. They entered a hallway that was a bit dusty. Sirius set down Harry's trunk and they all went to sit down in the parlor with a cup of tea. When they were done Harry and Sirius thanked the Delanos for driving them and waved as they drove off.  
Harry and Sirius returned inside. Sirius turned to Harry, "I'll show you your room." He led the way up a long winding staircase, Harry's trunk floating behind him and Harry walking beside him. They reached the top of the staircase and passed two doors on either side before they reached the end of the hallway where Sirius stopped. He opened the door. Harry saw a room with an old wardrobe, a dresser that was a bit battered, a couple aged chairs, a nightstand, and a large bed with a scarlet quilt bordered with gold that looked like a good wash wouldn't hurt it. The wooden floor had a few rugs here and there. There was a long window on the far wall, covered in dust. The walls themselves may have once been white but they were spattered with gray and brown here and there from dust and dirt. There were some torches and candles in the room but the immediate impression was not overly cheery.  
Sirius let the trunk float to a corner and set itself down. "Harry, I know this doesn't look like much now but it just needs some cleaning and fixing up. Most of the house does. It was empty for fourteen years."  
"I know."  
"We can work on it together."  
Bring life back to it and finally have a family again, the two of us would be a family, thought Harry. Something he had wanted as long as he could remember but that he hardly ever admitted, even to himself. "When do we start?"  
Sirius seemed glad by Harry's willingness and they started right away. He and Harry got rags out and cleaner out and had cleaned all the windows by dinner. While they ate Sirius had put the bedclothes from his own bed and Harry's as well as the rugs from Harry's room in what looked like a Muggle washing machine. But Harry soon realized that it only looked like a Muggle washing machine.  
Sirius had put far more things in than Harry was sure would fit and the machine wasn't plugged in anywhere. Instead of putting a scoop of cleanser in with the blankets, Sirius just closed the door on it, tapped it with his wand, and it began to wash.  
When dinner was over Harry and Sirius went back upstairs to put the sheets and blankets on the beds and the rugs on the floors. When they were done Sirius saw Harry yawn.  
"Harry, let me give you a quick tour and then you can go to sleep."  
Harry consented. Sirius showed him the other rooms connected to the hallway upstairs. There was a guest bedroom, Sirius's room, Harry's room, a study, a room of magical supplies, and a bathroom. Downstairs Harry was shown the hall he had come in through, the parlor, the kitchen, the dining room, another bathroom, and a library. Afterwards Harry said goodnight to Sirius and he went to his room.  
  
Harry woke up with the sun shining through the large window on the far side of the room. Harry sat up and reached for his glasses. When he swung his legs over the bed and his feet touched the floor that he had expected to be chilly. To his surprise, despite the fact that he was barefoot, the floor was warm. He went downstairs. Sirius was also still in his pajamas and he had made breakfast. "Morning, Harry. Did you sleep okay?" "Yeah, fine. The floor is so warm," he remarked sitting down on a stool at the counter. Sirius passed him a plate of scrambled eggs. "Of course, magic that keeps the floor warm, it gets cold up here. The spell is sort of threaded into the house itself." They spent most of that day working on the house dusting, cleaning, and repairing. Harry didn't mind. The day after that Harry got up and dressed as usual and went down to see Sirius at the kitchen counter. "Harry, guess what?" Harry swallowed the bit of sausage in his mouth and then asked, "What?" "We won't be cleaning today. You can explore the area around here. You can fly if you feel like it. Or finish your homework. Or write letters, or whatever you want to do. I want you to feel at home here. Plus, I've got to go talk to some friends and see about that job I told you about." "Alright. And you didn't tell me anything about the job, just that a position was in consideration. Who wants to hire you? What time will you be back?" "Not until 8. And I don't want to say anything 'til I know for sure." "Okay. I've got a bit of homework left. Then I'll probably go outside." They finished their breakfast. "Wait a minute, Harry." Sirius went to the library and came back a moment later. "I've got a map here. This shows the house here and the area around for about 15 miles. It will help you find your way around if you decide to go out. This also shows where the other wizard families around here live. There're three or four of them around here. Maybe five." "Thanks." "I'll see you later, Harry." Sirius picked up his broom as he left. Harry spoke to himself. "That's odd. I wonder why he didn't Apperate." Harry cleaned up his breakfast plate and went into the study upstairs to write his essay for his Herbology class. When he was done he took another look at the map. There was a small lake not too far away that might be worth investigating. He looked for the nearest wizard house. There was one three miles away that belonged to the Orwells. Harry decided to take the walk leisurely and go down to the lake, then he could make his way to the other houses. He decided to bring his broom in case he didn't feel like walking the whole way back. He picked up his Firebolt and in case it got cold before he came back he took a cloak. He rolled up the map to take too. He traveled at a steady pace and soon reached the lake. It was breathtaking. The water glistened like crystal. And he found unfamiliar plants as well as some odd-looking fish and other creatures. He stopped for a short rest and a drink there, and then he was on his way.  
It was just over two miles left to the home of the Orwells. He didn't know them and had only chosen this route because it was the nearest and it would be on his way to wherever else he went. He was less than a quarter- mile away when he saw two figures.  
One was a girl with brunette hair, she seemed to be maybe a year or so younger than Harry. She skillfully wielded a stout bat in her hands; though from its size, you would have thought the girl's skinny arms incapable of wielding such an object with such ease.  
The other figure was a boy similar to her in appearance but no older than eleven, if he was that old. He darted about happily on a broom throwing large and heavy balls at the girl. At first Harry thought maybe he was attacking her but as he drew nearer he realized the girl was enjoying herself. She shouted remarks to the boy, "That was too easy!" or "Nice aim there!" and "Too easy!"  
Harry watched as he came. The girl noticed his presence. "Hi, Harry! I thought you'd have been here sooner."  
"Who are you and how do you know me?"  
"You don't remember?" She swung the bat again. She didn't seem disappointed as she spoke. "We met last year. I'm Ginny's friend Claire Orwell. I saw you and you were carrying a big dusty book outside the castle one day last year. Besides, if I hadn't met you before it wouldn't be hard to figure out who you are. That scar on your forehead is lifelong identification."  
Harry self-consciously felt his forehead and realized he had pushed his bangs back a few minutes before. Harry had no memory of her but decided to take her word for it. "You look like you can handle that bat. Are you on your house Quiditch team?"  
"No, but I'm trying out this year. I just had to wait for Fred and George to graduate so I could become a Beater."  
"So you're in Gryffindor. Well I hope to see you on the team this year."  
"So I guess you're staying with Mr. Black."  
"Yeah. But how did you know I was staying with Sirius?"  
"Word gets around."  
"I've been here three days."  
"And your point is.?"  
"It's not that long."  
"But you are staying the rest of the summer, and next summer you are going back to your Muggle relatives."  
"How do you know so much?"  
"Word gets around," she repeated. She called to her little brother who was still in the air. "Come on down! We're going to go inside and drink something." She turned back to Harry. "Want to come inside for something to drink? My parents wouldn't mind; they're friendly."  
"Er-Okay." He followed the two of them back to their house and inside. It had a light, airy, comfortable atmosphere. The Orwells were hospitable and invited Harry to stay for lunch and he did. He flew outside with Claire and her brother for a while afterwards, first just in a single area throwing and catching and hitting balls while on their brooms. Then they ventured forth.  
Claire had said to Harry, "If you're going to be around a while you've got to get to know the neighborhood."  
Harry showed her the map and she explained who each family was. "The Tollivers are really nice. They're an old couple. They sort of act as grandparents to any kid who comes and knocks on their door. Now, here, the Changs live. They've got a son in his third year he's a Hufflepuff. Their daughter is a Ravenclaw named Cho. She's in her last year at Hogwarts. Plays Quiditch, a Seeker I think."  
Harry remembered Cho. She was pretty and good at Quiditch. Harry must have shown some sign because she continued speaking.  
"So you've met her, Harry?"  
"Once or twice playing Quiditch."  
She didn't say anymore on the subject. "A little further away from there, about three or four miles is the Delano's house. It was empty for years but they came back visiting and restoring last summer and this summer the Professor moved in with her daughter. Come on and I'll show you around." She hopped on her broom. Her brother wanted to stay home. Harry got on his broom and followed.  
Claire introduced Harry to Mr. and Mrs. Tolliver. As she had told Harry, the Tollivers were kind and grandparent-like. They welcomed Harry and told him to stop by anytime. They flew on passed the Changs house but didn't stop in. Claire explained that they weren't home and that they were visiting some relatives. They flew on until they reached the Delano home.  
It was bright and it seemed to have an intelligent quality to it. Claire reached the ground and ran up to the door to knock. Harry dismounted and followed her. Renata answered the door.  
"Hey, Claire. What's up?" She saw Harry. "Good afternoon, stranger. You've been here three days. I was wondering when you'd stop by."  
"Good to see you, too," he answered.  
"You two want to come in and have something to drink? Then we could go flying or something."  
Claire stepped inside and seemed right at home. Harry followed.  
They sat on the couch in the living room. They drank water, listened to the radio, and talked. It was fun. After an hour or so hour Renata suggested they go outside and fly.  
It was an unusually hot day and the temperature was rising. Claire looked out the window. "It's too hot out there."  
"We could go swimming," suggested Renata.  
"But my swim trunks are back at Sirius's house," said Harry.  
Claire pointed out, "Obviously. And so is my suit. Well, it's at my house. We can pick both up on the way to the lake."  
"What lake?" asked Harry.  
"The one by Sirius's place. I'll go upstairs and get my suit." Renata left and was back a few minutes later with a canvas bag. "Is it okay if I change in a spare room back at your place? I don't want to fly in a swimsuit."  
"Sure."  
Professor Delano came out of a room in the back. "Hello, everyone."  
"Hello."  
"Hello."  
"Hi. Mom, we're going to go down to the lake to swim. Do you mind?"  
"Okay, but be out of the water by sundown. I don't mind if you stay out longer but be out of the water by then."  
"Okay. We'll be back in a while."  
"Have fun."  
Renata took her broom from by the door and called over her shoulder, "We will." Outside, Renata mounted her broom and put the canvas bag on the end of it.  
Harry and Claire mounted their own brooms and flew beside her. They stopped at Claire's house and when Claire came out she emerged with a denim bag.  
They flew on to Harry's house. As they flew they talked.  
"So Harry, I heard you're back for the summer."  
"Where'd you hear that, Renata?"  
"A little birdie who was so excited he couldn't keep his mouth shut. Or maybe I should say a dog who couldn't keep his mouth shut."  
Harry knew she meant Sirius. Sirius was an Animagus, he could turn himself into a dog at will "So you knew I was coming?"  
"Of course I did. Nothing escapes me. Claire, you fly great. You are joining the team this year, aren't you? I'll speak to the Headmaster if you say no."  
"Yeah, but it's too bad you aren't going to be a Beater, Renata," replied Claire.  
"She needs to be the Keeper. I'm glad she came to replace Wood once he was gone." Harry landed on the ground. He watched as Renata bounded from her broom still three feet from the ground. "Come on in." The girls followed him.  
He went up the staircase. He showed Renata the guest room for her to change in and he pointed out Sirius's room to Claire. Harry went into his own room and he changed into his swim trunks.  
He came out to find Renata and Claire waiting downstairs; Renata was in a blue swimsuit, Claire in a purple one. Both had towels around their shoulders. "Let's go, we haven't got all day," said Renata.  
"Yeah we do," replied Claire.  
The three of them left with towels across their shoulders and brooms over one shoulder. They had decided it was too nice to fly but they may need the brooms for their return.  
They reached the lake and the fish nearest to the shore swam away. Renata climbed a tree and shouted as she jumped, "Cannon ball!"  
The water splashed Harry and Claire and as they were now wet they jumped in too. Harry was thankful the water wasn't more than probably eight feet deep, or nine at the deepest, maybe ten but most of the water was about five feet. Harry didn't have much experience swimming. The three of them splashed and yelled. They swam for a few hours occasionally resting and sunning themselves. It was an enjoyable afternoon. Harry also discovered that Renata knew what Sirius's new job was but she refused to tell Harry.  
"Come on, tell me."  
"Nope."  
"Come on."  
"No, I don't think so."  
"Tell me."  
"Never."  
"Please."  
"Hmmm.first time you ever said please, but.no."  
Harry could tell Renata was enjoying the game and Claire kept bursting into fits of giggles. Harry tried a new strategy. "I bet you don't know. You're just making it up."  
"Am I?"  
"Prove it."  
"How?"  
"Tell me what his new job is."  
"Shouldn't tell. Won't tell."  
"Why not?"  
"I promised. A promise given is a promise kept. You're only as good as you're word."  
"You're impossible."  
"I strive to be so."  
Harry couldn't help laughing at this strange girl. "You know you're crazy, don't you?"  
"I told you that last year. Did you forget, its one of the benefits of being me." Renata disappeared beneath the water.  
After half a minute Harry and Claire looked around but did not see Renata anywhere. Harry felt something or someone pulling his leg and causing him to be submerged under the water. He felt something hit him on the head. He swam back to the surface and saw Renata laughing at him.  
"Renata!"  
"What?" She gave a look of utter innocence. "So? I didn't do anything. I didn't hurt you. And I'm sorry I scared you." She didn't sound sorry.  
"No, you didn't, I had just thought you were hurt down there so I was looking for you." Fool, the water's barely five feet here. She wouldn't have drowned.  
"In that case, sorry, but don't worry about me, especially when I'm in water. I'm like a fish. Back home I'd start swimming around Easter and I'd hardly leave the water until October."  
A little while later Renata was swimming on her back and Harry had just jumped in the water again when she said, "I thought you 'don't swim'? That's what you said last year at any rate."  
"I guess I didn't, then. But it's not so bad." "Harry, 'Not so bad'? Harry, swimming is terrific. But the sun is going down. We've all got to go inside soon. Let's get out and dry off."  
The three of them get out and dried off with their towels. They got on their brooms and went back to the house. The girls and Harry went back to the rooms they had changed in earlier and put their clothes back on. They went back downstairs.  
"Do you want to eat?" asked Harry.  
"Sure."  
"Here, we'll help you make something," They followed Harry into the kitchen. Harry looked around and the pantry. It was a magic one, the kind that had whatever you were looking for and it always refilled itself. "So what do you want?" "Whatever is here." They ended up cooking hamburgers in a frying pan on the stove. Harry put plates and glasses on the table but Claire and Renata moved them to the counter. When they were done they sat and talked a while. Renata looked at her watch. "Claire, we should probably be going." "It is getting late." "What time is it?" asked Harry. "Um.8:30," replied Renata. "Sirius was supposed to get home at eight." "Don't worry about him, Harry. He can take care of himself. He'll be back soon." "Do you two want me to fly you home?" "Nah. We're big girls, Harry. We'll manage. We don't need anybody to escort us." "Yeah. We'll see you again tomorrow, right Harry?" "Sure. This was fun." It had been. Harry had spent a fun morning flying with Claire, and a great afternoon swimming with her and Renata. It was really his best day so far all summer. They all stood up. Harry walked the girls to the door. They picked up their brooms and the bags with their wet swimsuits and towels. They waved goodbye to Harry. He watched them fly into the night. The house felt empty. No one was talking or laughing. Harry tried to think of something to do. He couldn't clean up the kitchen; Renata and Claire had already helped him do so. He lit a fire in the fireplace and sat down with a book. It was one he had read before but one he enjoyed. It was the Fellowship of the Ring, Renata had loaned it to him last year when he'd been in the hospital and when they left her house today she had stuck it in her bag to let him borrow it again. She had said, "It's my fault Harry. I got you addicted Tolkien. Here," she had tossed the book at him. "I guess you have been a little Tolkien-deprived this summer. You can keep this copy, I've got several." Harry settled in the chair now and began to read. He was in the third chapter "Three's Company" when Sirius came home. "Hello, Harry." "I thought you were going to be home an hour ago." "I was but I ran into some old friends from the Ministry and I'm getting my flying motorcycle back." "What?" "Before I went to Azkaban I used to own a flying motorcycle. It was incredible. I gave it away when I began to track down Pettigrew. It'll be great. I can't wait to teach you how to ride it Harry. It's terrific. You'll really like it." "I'll get to ride it?" "Why not?" "When are you going to pick it up?" "A few days. So how was your day?" Sirius threw his cloak on a hook and sat down across from Harry. "Did you meet any neighbors?" "Most of them actually. The Orwells were friendly, I met them when I was walking and then after lunch Claire showed me around. I met the Tollivers; they were very nice. Then Claire and I flew over to where Renata lives and we stayed there for a while then we went swimming in the lake. Afterwards we came back and ate here. They only just here left a little while ago." "Sounds like you had a good day." "Well, what about you, Sirius?" "Things went well." "That's it? Aren't you going to tell me where you were?" "Not yet." "Renata knows, how come I can't?" "Because, Renata was being a stealthy little eavesdropper. Goodnight." Harry spent the next two and a half weeks flying, and generally hanging out with Claire and Renata. They even went swimming whenever there was a really fine day. It was great. And Sirius had given him lessons on flying the motorcycle. Sirius had been right, riding it was terrific but Harry still preferred is broom. The engine roar of the motorcycle was loud, especially compared to the whisper silence of the broom where the only sound was the wind rushing by. Harry spent a lot of time away from the house, but Sirius didn't mind it. He had told Harry, "I think it's good for you to be with youngsters of your own sort for a change, much better than being with those Muggles you lived with." That being said, Harry enjoyed himself. After being at Sirius's for almost 3 amusing weeks Harry wrote again to Ron and Hermione.  
Hermione,  
I hope you've had a great summer. Things are wonderful here. I've been  
at Sirius's for over two weeks. Sorry I didn't write sooner. I've been  
having a blast. I'll see you tomorrow at Diagon Alley.  
Harry Harry set the letter aside and wrote one to Ron.  
  
Ron,  
It's great here. I'm at Sirius's now and for the rest of the  
summer. That is, until the tomorrow when I meet you guys in Diagon  
Alley. See you soon,  
Harry  
  
Harry was shocked that already it was the twenty-ninth and he would be going back to Hogwarts in only three days. Under ordinary circumstances, being at the Dursleys, Harry would have felt those three days couldn't come quickly enough, this summer was different. He wanted each day to last. Harry sent Hedwig with the letter for Hermione and borrowed Sirius's owl to send Ron's. He then flew to Renata's as he had promised the day before. He reached the door about the same time as Claire.  
"Do you know what we're doing today?"  
Harry shook his head.  
Claire opened the door and went in. "This will be fun."  
Harry followed. They saw Renata, wearing faded jeans and a t-shirt. "We're sliding today."  
"What?" Harry asked.  
"Follow me," Renata ran up the stairs with Claire and Harry at her heels. Renata spoke over her shoulder as they reached the top. "This will be great."  
"What will?" asked Harry.  
"Sliding."  
"Sliding?"  
"Down the banister! Haven't you ever tried before? It's great." Harry briefly thought of his aunt's reaction if he had ever decided to slide down her newly polished banister (Aunt Petunia was something of a neat freak). Harry watched as Renata agilely climbed the post and then slid down, spinning and sliding at a rather alarming rate. Harry tried to reach her before she reached the floor but she fell first. When she hit the ground she rubbed her leg where she fell but grinned happily when she stood up. "I'm fine."  
Harry took the cushions off the couch and put them at the bottom of the stairs so no one would get hurt sliding down. He then followed Renata back up the stairs and passed Claire sliding down.  
Harry stood at the top with Renata. "So go." She told him.  
He sat on top of the banister and it seemed steeper than it had a moment before. He felt someone push him from behind and he felt the rush of air going past him. He hit the ground with a soft thump and ran back up the stairs again.  
They all spent hours sliding and running, stopping occasionally only for breath. "Awesome!"  
They had been sliding for hours and they were all back at the top of the stairs again when the doorbell rang. Claire, Harry, and Renata got on the banister in a line like a train and reached the bottom together. Laughing, they opened the door to discover who the visitor was. 


	3. Unexpected Meeting

"Sirius!"  
  
"Professor!"  
"Professor!"  
Indeed, Sirius was standing there with Professor Delano, and Professor Lupin.  
"Hello."  
"Good afternoon."  
"Nice to see you all again."  
"Come in, come in."  
They came inside and sat in the parlor for refreshments, that is, after Renata and Harry hastily replaced the cushions from the couch in the living room.  
"We didn't expect you home so soon, mom," Renata told her mother.  
"We are back a bit early."  
They all talked a while before going home. Lupin bade them goodnight and departed through the fireplace by way of Floo Powder.  
As Harry got up to leave he asked Renata and Claire if they wanted to go to the lake the next day if the weather agreed.  
"No."  
"Why not, Renata?" Harry asked, a bit surprised.  
"Because, then we would be all wet when we get to Diagon Alley."  
"I forgot we were all going."  
Renata shook her head. "You haven't seen Ron or Hermione all summer and now that you were going to see them again you forgot. What are we going to do about you, Harry?"  
They said goodnight and Sirius and Harry flew Claire home then continued the rest of the way to their house.  
In the morning Sirius and Harry woke early rose and ate. Afterwards they stood by the fireplace and Sirius extracted a small pouch. "Harry, have you traveled by Floo Powder before?"  
Harry nodded.  
"Good, then you go first and I'll follow."  
Harry took a pinch of the glittering powder from Sirius's bag and threw it in the fire. The flames turned an emerald green. He stepped up and they were pleasantly warm, like breath. He spoke clearly, "Diagon Alley." He was sucked into the fire and when he emerged he was standing in the Leaky Cauldron. He stepped aside and Sirius arrived shortly after he did.  
Sirius and Harry went out to the backyard to a small alley. Sirius tapped his wand on one of the bricks and a hole appeared in the wall allowing them to pass through the wall. They entered Diagon Alley.  
Sirius and Harry went to Gringotts, the wizarding bank run by goblins, and picked up some money from their safes. They were nearly to Flourish and Blotts when the Weaslys and the Grangers found them.  
Ron shouted, "Harry!"  
"Wait, Harry!" called Hermione.  
Harry spun around and was face to face with them. "Hi!"  
"We were wondering if you forgot us there, Harry."  
"I missed you two," Harry told them.  
"You look a little tanner, Harry," Hermione said.  
"Really? I have been spending a lot of time outside swimming and stuff."  
"So where's Renata?"  
"I haven't seen her yet."  
Mrs. Weasly came and gave Harry a hug. "Hello, Harry dear."  
"Hello, Mrs. Weasly."  
The Weaslys knew Sirius but the Grangers didn't. Harry introduced them. The Grangers didn't always come to Diagon Alley with Hermione but they did sometimes. They, like Harry's aunt and uncle, were Muggles (not a drop of magical blood in them). But unlike the Dursleys they didn't mind magic so much and didn't seem afraid of it.  
They continued on their way and were just outside the doors of Flourish and Blotts when someone came up behind Harry and pushed him, making him stumble. "Hey what's the big idea?" he turned around angrily to be face to face with a beaming blonde, it was of course Renata.  
"Hey, everybody! Hi! Hermione, Ron, Ginny! Oh Ginny, Claire's here too." Renata turned and looked at Harry. "Oh, just you again." She went on into the store.  
Ron looked at Harry. "I can't believe you had to put up with her for more than two weeks."  
"She's not that bad."  
"Harry, she just tripped and walked off without apologizing."  
"Yeah, but that's what she does."  
Hermione and Ron looked at him like he was a bit crazy.  
"C'mon let's go buy our books," Harry told them. They all walked in. The Grangers, the Weaslys who had come, Sirius, Professor Delano, and Claire.  
When they had collected all the books on their school list, they went to the register to pay. They departed from Flourish and Blotts and continued on to other stores where they needed supplies.  
After that Harry and Ron went to a joke-shop. Renata and Hermione went off to another shop, as did Claire and Ginny.  
As Harry examined some barking toadstools he talked to Ron. "How's your summer been?"  
"Not bad really. The house just seemed.empty. Fred and George were in Hogsmeade most of the summer; Percy was away a lot at Penelope Clearwater's house meeting her parents and family."  
"Do you know when the wedding will be?"  
"There's a lot of arrangements and stuff so they decided it won't be until next summer."  
"Did you hear from Fred and George?"  
"A couple times. They are working a lot. I reckon they might actually pull it off. This joke-shop of theirs will probably work."  
"Yeah."  
They all met back in the Leaky Cauldron for lunch. The bartender and owner, Tom came and pushed several tables together for all of them. Vanessa, Tom's niece, came and took their orders.  
"What's up, Vanessa?" Renata asked.  
"Nothing. Things are great here."  
"Good." Renata then gave her order and leaned back in her chair.  
After the rest of them had given their orders, Vanessa left and went back to the kitchen.  
Sirius was the first to speak, "Hermione , Ron, I hope you like where you'll be staying. If you don't, well, be glad its only two nights."  
Harry paused, the fork midway to his mouth, "What do you mean Sirius?"  
"Ron and Hermione are coming back with us and Claire's parents arranged for her to go and stay with the Weaslys until school starts."  
Renata grinned. "Yep. Hermione? Ron? You mind being stuck hanging out with us for the next two days?"  
"Actually," said Harry. "We're all stuck together until the end of next June."  
Renata laughed. "You're right."  
"Alright. We better get going."  
Proper goodbyes were said and then it turned out that Tom had allowed them to stow their trunks in a room while they shopped around Diagon Alley. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Renata, Professor Delano and Sirius went back to Sirius's house and Claire left with Mrs. Weasly and Ginny.  
When they were all at Sirius's home they went outside to discover it was again unusually hot and sticky out.  
"We need a swim," Renata said.  
"Most definitely," agreed Harry."  
They all changed upstairs, the girls in one room the boys in another. They came downstairs.  
"Sirius, we're going to the lake."  
"Be back before dark. I'll be home later, I'm going to go visit Remus."  
They all left. Sirius simply Apperated to his destination and the children walked down to the lake.  
Harry looked at his arm. It was lightly tanned; it was a nice change because he had always thought he looked a bit pale in the past. Harry climbed the now familiar tree and jumped in the water. They had fun. They were all out there for hours swimming and splashing.  
When they left they were exhausted but they trudged back to Sirius's house nevertheless. They ate lunch and sat and talked. Eventually the subject of the upcoming school year came up.  
"Renata, will your mum be teaching again this year?"  
"Yeah, she'll be teaching."  
"Still Defense Against the Dark Arts?"  
"Uh-huh," Renata reached over and took a chocolate chip cookie from the plate. "What do you guys think about it here? Isn't this place great?" Renata asked Ron and Hermione.  
"It's really nice here."  
"I like it."  
"That's good because you're staying until the first and there's nothing you can do about it," Renata said grinning. "So, Hermione, are you staying in the spare room here or at my house?"  
"I don't know."  
From there the conversation went on and varied. They discussed Hogwarts and teachers again, but not Renata's mum.  
The day passed with ease. They discussed Quiditch, Hogwarts, the upcoming year, the past year, and the summer. Sirius came home to find them all gathered in front of the fire playing Exploding Snap. Ron's eyebrows still had a little smoke coming from them. 


	4. Return to the Castle

The next morning dawned fair and bright. But unfortunately for Harry and Ron, they were up before the sun was.  
Renata and Hermione had bounded into their room, fully dressed yelling "Wake up!"  
"Good morning, boys!"  
Harry had sat up groggily and retrieved his glasses. Ron continued to snore on the camping bed set up next to his bed.  
"What is it?" asked Harry, extremely vexed at being woken so early.  
"This is the last day of vacation and we wanted to make sure we all spend the whole day having fun."  
"Sure. Today will be fun. After a few more hours sleep." Harry rolled over and tried to go back to sleep but found it difficult because he could feel Renata and Hermione's eyes boring into his back.  
He sat up again. "How did you get in the house Renata?"  
"I never left. After the two of you went to bed Hermione and I stayed up talking and it was so late I decided to stay in the guest room with Hermione instead of flying all the way home."  
"If you two stayed up later than we did, how are either of you possibly this awake?"  
"Easy. I used to get up not long after now to practice Quiditch when I was back in California. We were studying maps and we think we found a really cool place."  
"We want to show you."  
"Then why don't you two go and let Ron and me get some sleep? I am tired. Actually it looks like Ron is getting sleep. I'm not and I am tired." He rolled over once more. The girls still wouldn't leave. "Why don't you go eat breakfast or something?"  
"We already did."  
"Renata, it is five thirty in the morning. The two of you have been up here since five, go away."  
"Fine we'll go by ourselves." They left the room.  
Harry tried to go back to sleep but found he couldn't. If Renata and Hermione got hurt.it would be his fault. He had told them to leave. He had told them to go away. They had listened.  
He got up and nudged Ron until he woke up.  
"What Harry? It can't possibly be time to wake up. It's early," he yawned.  
"Renata and Hermione came in and said we should follow them. I told them to go away and they left. Do you think they're okay?"  
"Harry, I'm sure they are fine. They are both smart and they know how to stay out of trouble."  
"No they don't."  
"They are smart and they know how to get out of trouble then," grumbled Ron.  
"But its still summer, they can't use their wands."  
"They can in an emergency; it's some sort of special clause in the restriction." He sighed. "You aren't going to be happy unless we get up and look for them are you?"  
They got dressed and went down stairs to look for Hermione and Renata. They weren't there. On their way out Harry and Ron grabbed something to eat then set off to look and see if the girls were at the lake.  
They reached the lake and the girls weren't there. By midmorning they had visited the Orwells, forgetting Claire was with the Weaslys; the Delanos' house; as well as several other places, the girls were nowhere to be seen.  
Harry and Ron were back at the lake once more thinking about where the others might be. Ron sat on a rock with his head in hands and Harry paced, going over everywhere they could be.  
Ron threw a small rock into the lake, an angry fish swam to the surface and was probably yelling at them but to the boys it sounded like shrieks.  
"That's it! C'mon Ron." Harry dashed off with renewed energy.  
Ron followed. "Where are you going?"  
"Last week Renata mentioned a haunted house that she thought looked interesting. Well, she said she'd never been there, she didn't know if the place existed but it was rumored to be around here and she wanted to see it. But Claire and I didn't feel like going that day and said we'd go another time but after that Renata never brought it up again." Harry stopped running to catch his breath and Ron caught up to him.  
"Do you even know if we're going in the right direction?"  
"I think so. Let's keep going." They started off once more. Eventually they reached a stream, and muddy shoe prints. "We're on the right track! It shouldn't be far now."  
They kept on at a brisker pace than before. They reached a clearing, and in that clearing there was a house. The door had a large scarlet and gold bird painted on it. A phoenix. Harry and Ron heard voices within. They crept to a window and peered in. There was dusty furniture: a table, some chairs, a desk or two, but no apparent source of the voices. The voices were muffled but it appeared that they were talking about.soccer! Of all things, soccer! Harry got up and tried to force the door open. It refused to budge. Ron helped and still it didn't move. Throwing caution aside he knocked on the door loudly. He heard the scraping of chairs and feet.  
The door opened a moment later to reveal the face of a young woman Harry didn't recognize. Dark hair tumbled to her waist, her eyes were a fierce gray, her skin was an olive color, she was tall and thin as well. Before Harry could speak she asked, "Who is it?" She looked quite irked at seeing the visitors.  
"I'm Harry Potter and this is Ron Weasly. We were wondering if our friends were in there."  
The young woman looked over her shoulder, then turned back to ask, "What's the password?"  
"What?"  
"The girls here say you know it."  
"How can we? We've never been here."  
She turned back inside and evidently had a short discussion with those within. "The blonde lady here says that you, the one with the dark hair, would swear on your Firebolt that you know the password."  
"Er-can I have a minute to think?"  
"Yes," she said, clearly more irritated.  
Harry stepped off with Ron. "Renata is giving us a clue by saying I'd swear on my Firebolt. What is she saying?"  
"Broom? Fly? Quiditch? Hogwarts?"  
"That's it, I bet the password is Quiditch." They turned back to the woman standing in the doorway. "Quiditch."  
"Come in quickly, both of you."  
They went inside and saw that the room was not dusty or dirty in the least. Quite the contrary, there were nearly half a dozen figures seated around the table enjoying a pitcher of lemonade and some sandwiches along with a bowl of fruit, though clearly they had been working and there were papers and quills spread out among the desks and on the table. The young woman sat down and from the other side of the table Renata grinned.  
"We knew you'd find us eventually."  
"How are you possibly this happy? We spent all morning worrying and looking for both of you!"  
"Really?" Renata asked amused.  
"Of course we were looking for you," retorted Ron. "You think we'd just gone back to sleep?"  
"No, of course not. I meant the other part of what Harry said. Really?"  
Harry's cheeks colored but he managed to answer anyway. "Of course we were worried about you two. You're our friends."  
One of the men at the table stood up and shook hands with Harry and Ron. "Welcome. Grab seats, grab sandwiches." He snapped his finger and two more glasses came from the cabinet.  
"So what's this all about?" asked Harry when he had sat down.  
"This, Harry, is a meeting."  
"That's obvious but a meeting of what for what? I saw the Phoenix on the door but I also heard you talking about soccer."  
Renata laughed. "Soccer? That was the voice scrambler. But you were on the right track with the phoenix."  
One of the women at the table spoke. "Quiet. Otherwise you'll be asked to leave." Renata was silent at once. "Much better. Harry, Ron, this is one of the meetinghouses of the Order of the Phoenix. You've heard of us?"  
"I thought that was run through Dumbledore?"  
"Albus Dumbledore is the currently head of our Order but the existence of the Order precedes even him."  
"So?"  
"We are still working on our constant fight against our enemy as well as yours. You know they are one and the same. Until he is gone we shall continue to fight."  
"I thought there were only twelve members in the Order at a time. I saw the Order last year and I don't remember anyone here being there," Harry said.  
The other woman spoke. "Only twelve members lead the Order. The rest of us follow them in the Order."  
"We needed to hold a meeting today because urgent matters have arisen. Peter Pettigrew is missing. And a new Minister of Magic must be chosen. And Lucius Malfoy is in the running for the position."  
Harry, Hermione, and Ron all spoke at once.  
"Wormtail is gone?"  
"It's about time for a new Minister!"  
"Malfoy's dad!"  
"SILENCE!" The girl who had admitted Harry and Ron into the building stood and yelled, louder than they had thought possible, bringing utter silence. "Let him talk," she indicated the man at the table.  
The man at the table stood. "Thank you, Anna. Now I understand that there are strong feelings regarding these issues. Let me explain them before you comment. Luscious Malfoy is currently running for Minister and he is unopposed." Harry tried to open his mouth to speak.  
Renata picked up an apple and stuck it in Harry's open mouth. "Please continue Mr. Fenimore."  
"Thank you. Now, there are reasons that Malfoy is unopposed. I doubt many of the people, if any, want Cornelius Fudge to remain Minister. Those that agreed with his rulings were either unaware of the true situation or perfectly glad Fudge did nothing about the problems. Those that didn't agree do not want him back either. Those that agreed, the ones who knew the truth that is, wanted one of Voldemort's men to become Minister. Those that despise Fudge for the fool he is, want Albus Dumbledore to take over. He won't leave you kids at the school though. If Albus left the school he knows someone else would be put in charge and not necessarily run the school as he expects it should be."  
"Of course not!" blurted out Ron. "No one would run the school like Dumbledore. He's crazy but he's the best Headmaster Hogwarts ever had!"  
Hermione looked at him, annoyed. "We know that, Ron. Now shut up or I'll stick an apple in your mouth and make you be quiet. Please carry on, Mr. Fenimore."  
"Although Albus runs the school uniquely, he runs the establishment with impressive fairness in judgment and great organization. He doesn't trust anyone else to run it in his stead. He has been asked more than once and he will not leave the school to become Minister, therefore we need to find another willing to take on the job as Minister."  
"Wouldn't anyone want the job?" asked Hermione.  
Ron looked at Hermione, "Now who needs to be threatened?"  
Renata spoke sharply to them both. "Both of you pipe-down so Mr. Fenimore can answer the question. Mr. Fenimore, Hermione's right. Why wouldn't anyone want the job? Well paying, prestige, what's bad about it?"  
"There's stress, a lot of work, and this time likely assassination. We can't find anyone to take the job. There are a few who said they would but those that would already have to be known enough by the general public, preferably known as a neutral as far as the public is concerned if possible, and would be willing to take the risks."  
"This of course makes this so much more worse than we thought about three seconds ago."  
"Exactly."  
"Who did you have in mind?"  
"No one, really. That's the problem. Now, what possessed you kids to come down here today?"  
"I heard there was an old abandoned place out here and I wanted to check it before the end of summer and this is the last of the summer holidays," Renata told him.  
"Interesting. You had better get going."  
"Where?"  
"Anywhere but here. We've got no more time to spare talking to the four of you. We've already wasted enough time with you and we'vegot serious work to deal with."  
"And you don't want us to help?"  
"Not now, we haven't the time to bother with you, but take these." Mr. Fenimore handed big envelopes to Harry and Renata. "Give these to Sirius and Jenny, do not open them."  
The students were shooed outside and when the door was closed and they looked in the window all they could see was a seemingly dusty and empty room and some voices talking about soccer (thanks to the voice scrambler). After walking a few yards Renata opened the envelope.  
"Renata," Hermione said. "Weren't you told not to open that?"  
"Yes, but what ever gave you the idea that I would listen?" She pulled out the contents of the envelope. There was a newspaper and a sheet of paper. "Well, well, look at this; the latest copy of the Chickadee Press. And here is my mom's newest writing assignment for the paper: what to do about the upcoming Minister of Magic problem. Great, she gets the hard one. We'll read the paper in a minute but Harry what's Sirius got to write about?"  
Harry opened the envelope and withdrew the piece of paper and the newspaper. "Sirius has to write about where Voldemort's approximate location is and recap on the events of last June or May or whenever it was. Let's read the paper."  
They all found a place to sit together and read the paper. This wasn't the normal wizarding newspaper, The Daily Prophet, this was a special paper run by and for the Order of the Phoenix. The headline said: GONE AGAIN.  
  
Peter Pettigrew also known as Wormtail and long believed dead, was  
captured by some Hogwarts students at the end of last year, in  
California. They turned him over to Albus Dumbledore who kept watch  
over him until he was forced to hand Pettigrew over to Ministry  
Officials. Now the unfortunate has happened. Pettigrew is missing. We  
are unsure whether Ministry Officials working for the Dark Side  
released him or whether it was security flaws that allowed him to  
escape. Whatever the case, he must be found. Your assistance would be  
most appreciated -Newhope  
  
They skimmed the other articles as well. Renata and Harry stuffed the papers back into the envelopes. "We better drop these off back home and then we can go somewhere," Renata said.  
"Yeah. Sirius's place is closest. We'll put all the papers there for now," Harry agreed.  
They hiked back to Sirius's house. When they reached there they decided that they would rest a bit and then go back to the lake. Renata flew home to get her swimsuit while the others got something to drink. When Renata got back the others were just finishing up with drinks.  
"Here, we left an extra soda out if you want it."  
"No thanks, not thirsty."  
The four of them went upstairs to change. Hermione and Renata came out of the guest room and then waited for Harry and Ron to come out of Harry's room. They had on swimsuits (or in the case of Harry and Ron, swim trunks) carrying their towels they went downstairs and made their way to the lake. The water was as crystalline as it had been the day Harry had first seen it. Harry stood looking at the water and then he felt something brush passed him and race into the water. He saw Renata dive into the water. The others followed her. They jumped into the water; the water was cold but refreshing. After a couple hours they lay out in the sun to dry off for a few minutes and then continued drying by walking back to the house.  
Inside they changed back into regular clothes and had lunch. They sat around talking for a while.  
"I can't believe we're going back to Hogwarts already," Harry said, shaking his head.  
"Well, we go back tomorrow whether you believe it or not."  
"Are you all done with your homework?" asked Hermione.  
"Yeah."  
"Yep."  
"Yes."  
"I must admit, I'm surprised," she confessed.  
"When have we ever given you reason to doubt that we'd do our work?" asked Ron, with mock innocence.  
"We've got have a day left, what should we do?"  
"We could go back outside and swim again."  
Hermione protested, "No, I'm tired of that. This summer has been hotter than most, you know."  
"Well, what else can we do?"  
"I got it!" Harry smiled. "Come on." He led them outside and around to the back where Sirius's motorcycle was.  
"Awesome!"  
  
"It flies."  
"It flies?"  
"Yep. It's so.so.I dunno, but watch." Harry put his leg over the bike and started it up like Sirius has shown him to do. Harry flew for a few minutes and then landed.  
Hermione didn't like heights much and so didn't want to try the bike but Ron and Renata did.  
"Renata, you've already tried before, it's Ron's turn."  
Ron got on. He did a few laps around the yard. Eventually the four of them went inside again. Sirius had gotten home while they'd been outside.  
"Hello."  
"Hey, Sirius."  
"Did you kids pack up your things?"  
"Not yet."  
"Why don't you pack now and then you don't have to worry about it later?"  
As they had nothing better to do Hermione and Ron double-checked to make sure they had everything they needed packed. Harry had to pack up most of his things still but he did it as quickly as possible. Renata wasn't packed either but all her things were at her house so she had nothing to pack anyway and she just milled around upstairs with the other three. When they were all done they talked and hung out for a while. After dinner, Renata insisted that she had to get home.  
* * * The next morning Sirius woke Harry, Ron, and Hermione bright and early. "Come on, it's time to go, we've got quite a drive ahead of us."  
Harry sat up groggily. "What?" he yawned.  
Ron sat up, stretching, "What is it?"  
Sirius repeated, "We've got a long drive. They'll be here to pick us up in twenty minutes."  
"Who will?" asked Harry, getting to his feet at last.  
"The Delanos. They offered to drive us to the station. Breakfast is downstairs when you're ready." Harry watched Sirius leave to knock on Hermione's door and wake her.  
Harry and Ron got dressed and dragged their trunks downstairs. Hermione was waiting at the counter; her trunk was in the hall. The plates were just washing themselves after a quick breakfast, when the students heard a car horn outside.  
"That's our ride." Sirius brought the trunks (magically floating them beside him) to the car. Harry, Ron, and Hermione got in the backseat with Renata. All four of them had owls in cages on their laps and down by Hermione's feet was a cat snoozing gently in a covered basket. Harry noticed that the seat had been magically expanded so they all fit comfortably inside the car. The six of them rode in the car, watching the now familiar scenes of the area. Harry looked wistfully at the lake and hoped he'd be back the next summer.  
The ride was long, as Sirius had told him, but it was uneventful. They reached Kings Cross at half passed ten. They got out of the car and got trolleys for their trunks.  
"Professor, why don't you have your trunk?" asked Hermione.  
"Oh, I'm going to Apperate to Hogsmeade. I have to take the car back home."  
"You have to deal with that long drive again?"  
"Yes, but it is not that bad."  
At quarter to eleven, just before they were about to go through the barrier separating the Muggle part of Kings Cross from Platform 9¾ they saw the Weaslys. Ginny and Claire accompanied Mrs. Weasly. They all greeted each other and then slipped through the barrier in pairs. The Muggles going about their business, boarding trains and meeting passengers had no idea of the existence of Platform 9¾. It wasn't that difficult to get on the platform, if you knew where it was that is. All you had to do was simply walk through the seemingly solid barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Harry and Ron ran through, pushing their trunks. They emerged on the other side and were facing a scarlet steam engine labeled the HOGWARTS EXPRESS.  
Harry said goodbye to Sirius who seemed to want to leave right away. Harry asked why.  
"My new job starts today, Harry. I've got to be going." Sirius Apperated away on the spot.  
Renata's mom left too. She said she had to return the car. After saying a quick goodbye to Mrs. Weasly the kids joined the others on the train. They waved out the window as the train began to roll away, gathering speed as it went. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Renata left to find a compartment to themselves.  
They found one and went in. After a while, Neville Longbottom (one of the boys that shared Harry and Ron's dormitory) came into the compartment.  
"Hi, Neville."  
"How was your summer?"  
"Not bad, can I stay a while?"  
"Of course." They talked about how their summers had been. Neville was envious, "You got to spend the whole summer together? Lucky. I was with Grams and Uncle Algie."  
"I was stuck with the Dursleys for the first half of the summer though," pointed out Harry.  
"Still."  
The compartment door slid open.  
Harry yawned, "What do you want, Malfoy?"  
"Yeah, can't you see we're trying to have a decent conversation?" added Ron.  
"You're dead meat, Potter," spat Draco Malfoy, the blonde boy who stood in the door, flanked by his heavily built and muscular cronies, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.  
Ron laughed, "And you're dragon dung, Malfoy."  
"Don't laugh at me."  
"And how can we not laugh at you, Malfoy?" asked Renata, smirking. "You travel only in a group of three. Honestly, bodyguards? Puh-leeze! And, don't look now but there appears to be some sort of wet rodent on your head. Oh! My mistake, that's what passes as your hair."  
"What did you say, girl?" asked Malfoy, his eyes narrowing.  
Hermione stood up, "You heard her loud and clear."  
"Get out of here, Malfoy," Neville demanded weakly.  
"And who's going to make me, Longbottom? You?"  
"Yeah. I will." He propelled Malfoy backward and in returned received an uppercut to his jaw from Crabbe. To this, Goyle added a punch to the stomach.  
Harry stood up. "You can't do that!" Soon, he Ron, and Neville were fending off Crabbe and Goyle; Malfoy seemed to be standing off to the side a bit, throwing in insults. That's what he was doing until he was turned upside down.  
"What's the big idea?" he growled.  
Renata was clutching him by the ankle she had picked up and used to toss him head over heels on to the ground.  
Hermione got up and helped shove Malfoy into the hallway. At last, Crabbe and Goyle retreated.  
Renata smoothed out her slightly ruffled hair; Neville now sat doubled over in his seat (Goyle had delivered a last blow to his gut before departing); Harry's left eye was starting to swell; and Ron's nose was bleeding. Hermione got some tissues out of her purse and directed Ron on how to hold his head up until the bleeding stopped and Renata somehow magically produced some ice to put on Harry's eye. As for Neville, all they could really do was get out some aspirin for him.  
The witch with the snack cart who came by later during the train ride noticed their disheveled state. "Would you like anything, dears? I've got some more ice here." She pulled out a little bag of ice, which Harry gratefully accepted before buying an assortment of treats and bringing them back to his friends.  
"Neville, good job standing up against Malfoy. We knew you had it in you."  
Neville grinned. Neville had always been forgetful, tearful, and he hardly ever stood up for himself.  
The compartment door slid open a few minutes later and Harry and Ron sprang to their feet, half expecting it to be Malfoy again. Instead, they were rather surprised. 


	5. New Faces

"Hi Parvati, hello Lavender," Harry said awkwardly, quickly putting down his fists.  
"What happened here? You're all a mess! Renata, were you fighting with the boys?" asked Lavender Brown, sounding exasperated.  
"We didn't start it. It was Malfoy. He was here insulting us so-"  
"So you fought back?" asked Parvati Patel.  
"That about sums it up."  
"What are we going to do with you? You know you're not supposed to fight."  
"Sorry," apologized Renata.  
Renata didn't look or sound very sorry though, thought Harry.  
"We were looking for your mum, Renata. Is she here?"  
"No, she's coming later. Why?"  
"We wanted to talk to her. We'll see you later. Goodbye."  
They made their exit and outside the window it had grown dark outside and the countryside was passing them by. Eventually the train slowed to a halt. A voice from somewhere overhead reminded them to leave their luggage on the train.  
The students stepped off the platform at the Hogsmeade Station. Harry had expected to hear Hagrid's familiar voice calling all the first years to the little fleet of boats that would take them to the school, but instead, Harry heard something completely different.  
"All First Year students, immediately report to me or you will be left behind. Report to me and come to the boats!" It was the icy voice belonging to Professor Severus Snape, the potions master.  
Harry looked around for Hagrid and didn't see him. He followed the other students (second year and above) to the horseless carriages waiting to take them to the school.  
Harry got in with Ron, Hermione, and Renata. "Did any of you see Hagrid?"  
"No. Just Snape," Ron said sourly.  
"Where could Hagrid be then?"  
"Who knows?"  
"Think he's alright?"  
"I dunno."  
They approached the gates surrounding Hogwarts and once within them the carriages stopped and the students emerged.  
Harry looked up and saw the castle poltergeist, Peeves. He had a water balloon aimed at Renata.  
"Watch out!" Harry shouted to Renata.  
Renata appeared not to have heard him because she didn't move. Maybe she had heard him, realized Harry, because she stuck her wand straight up in the air and muttered something. Harry watched as the water balloon Peeves had dropped shot straight back up in the air and hit Peeves. Renata and the others walk calmly on their way.  
Harry and the others went inside and into the Great Hall. Harry and his friends took their seats at the Gryffindor table.  
"Harry?" asked Ron nudging him with his elbow and nodding at the staff table. "What do you see?"  
Harry followed Ron's gaze to the staff table. Professor McGonagall's place was empty, she was talking to the first years in another room; Hagrid's place was empty, they weren't sure where he was; Snape's place was empty, he had been leading the first years across the lake. No one appeared to be missing.  
"Ron, I don't see what you-Sirius!"  
"What's he doing here?" asked Ron.  
"I didn't know he'd be here. I was going to ask you. Where's Professor Delano?" Harry realized it. "Sirius is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!"  
Hermione scoffed. "That's impossible. Renata, didn't you say your mum was teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts?"  
"Yeah, and I wasn't lying. I just didn't say where she was teaching." Renata grinned. "She's in Bulgaria. My mom is helping to turn around Durmstrang. It'll be a better place now that Karkaroff is gone."  
Harry sighed. "So that's why you knew Sirius would be teaching here. Because you knew your mum wouldn't be."  
"Yep. Now shush, Dumbledore is talking."  
Professor Albus Dumbledore stood, smiling at them all; his waist length silver hair and beard showed brightly in the candlelight. "Welcome to all you new first years! I hope your next seven years here are enjoyable. To all you returning students I have two words: welcome back! Before the Sorting takes place I have a few little announcements to make. First, you must note that the forest on the grounds in is strictly forbidden and no one is allowed inside. Also no magic is to be used between classes in the corridor, especially against another student."  
Harry had the feeling Dumbledore glanced his way. He'd been caught with Renata the year before, turning Malfoy into a ferret.  
"Let the Sorting commence!"  
Professor McGonagall placed a three-legged stool in front of the first years, most of who looked quite shaken and pale, and she placed the Sorting Hat on it. The Sorting Hat was an old wizard hat, much patched and frayed over the years. A rip near the brim of the hat opened and the hat began to sing to the students and the teachers.  
  
Eager faces, bright and young,  
Great teachers of renown,  
You'll hear a tale to delight you all,  
If you'll just gather 'round.  
  
If you're brave and pure of heart,  
Gryffindor's your place to start.  
When you are clever, quick, and wise,  
Ravenclaw will be your prize.  
  
For those with a fair and loyal mind,  
Hufflepuff is just your kind.  
If the end justifies the mean,  
Slytherin is where you'll be seen.  
  
Godric and Rowena,  
Helga and Salazar,  
The four met here a thousand years ago,  
To teach you sorcerers all you need to know!  
  
The hat ceased in its song and the students and teachers alike applauded.  
Professor McGonagall unrolled a scroll of parchment and began to read off the names. "Colfer, Abigail."  
Harry watched as a little girl walked up and sat down on the stool. The Sorting Hat was on her head a few seconds before the brim opened and the hat announced its decision, "Ravenclaw!" The Ravenclaw table applauded.  
Harry looked back to the line of first years. Funny, there appeared to be a ghost chatting with them. Quite a young ghost, and not one Harry recognized in the slightest. McGonagall called the next name.  
"Dorman, Eoin."  
A boy with coarse brown hair went up to the stool and sat awaiting the hats decision, "Slytherin!"  
The Slytherin table applauded as the boy came and sat down. The names went on and students went off to different tables.  
Soon there were only three students remaining, or rather two students and the ghost. McGonagall called, "Smithington, Artemis." The entire hall seemed to be in shock as the ghost glided up to the stool and sat down on the stool. Harry watched as the scene played itself out: the ghost sat expectantly on the stool, McGonagall looked to Dumbledore, Dumbledore nodded and McGonagall held the sorting hat so it touched her head, to everyone's mild surprise, after a few seconds that hat made its announcement and the ghost became a Gryffindor.  
The last two students were sorted. "Varing, Tyler" became a Hufflepuff, and "Wormwood, Athena" joined the Ravenclaw.  
Professor McGonagall rolled up the parchment and marched off with the hat and the stool. Dumbledore stood once more, "Before the feast begins I would like to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Sirius Black."  
The students began to mutter and whisper to each other at once. Dumbledore raised his hand for silence. "Please. Contrary to what many of you may still believe, Sirius Black has been proven innocent by the Ministry and by the accounts of several students. Also I would like to announce that though he does appear to be missing at the moment, Professor Remus Lupin will be filling in for Hagrid as Care of Magical Creatures professor for the time being. In addition to this we have hired some extra help for Argus Filch, the castle caretaker, so let me introduce Pip Pumblechook. Thank you and enjoy the feast!"  
The plates in front of them magically filled with food and the students began to devourer it.  
"Another new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," muttered a seventh year boy near by.  
The boy sitting next to him replied, "They don't last very long, do they?"  
Renata turned to Harry. "You do realize you won't be able to get away with anything now, don't you?"  
"How do you mean?"  
"I'm sure Sirius will check up on you. To make sure you don't end up in the forest or sneak off to Hogsmeade. I wouldn't be surprised if he confiscated that map of yours."  
Harry sighed. She was probably right.  
Hermione turned to Harry. "So you may have to break a few less rules. What's wrong with that?"  
Ron answered for him. "It goes against the very fabric of his being, that's what's wrong with it. Harry's been breaking rules since he came here. Come to think of it all three of us have."  
"Excuse me, I never started with rule breaking," Hermione said.  
"No, that was our fault I'm sure," Ron retorted sarcastically.  
"Actually it was!" replied Hermione.  
"Stop fussing," said Renata, piling more chicken on her plate. "Think Sirius will make it more than a year?"  
"No reason why he shouldn't. Why isn't Hagrid here? And where's Lupin?"  
"I only wish I knew. I hope Hagrid is alright."  
"I hope my uncle is okay. If he's filling in, he should be here by now," Renata said uneasily.  
Harry looked and saw Renata was looking rather concerned. Just as the food disappeared of the sparkling plates and the desserts appeared and Professor Remus J. Lupin entered. He sat down at the staff table and murmured brief apologies for his tardiness.  
When the plates were once again sparkling clean the students got up to go back to their houses. On his way out, Harry was stopped by Sirius.  
"Harry, what happened to your face?"  
"Er-"  
"You were in a fight, weren't you?"  
"He started it."  
"Harry, you're not to be fighting at school. Who was it?"  
"Malfoy and his friends. It wasn't at school. We were on the train. He definitely came off worse. We only ended up with a bloody nose and a black-eyed between us."  
"Harry," Sirius grinned in spite of himself and had to start again. "Harry, you're not to be fighting. Understand? Ron's not to be fighting either."  
"Yes, Sirius." Harry left to find the others. Hermione and Ron were waiting together by the door and Renata was talking to her uncle.  
When Renata was done the four of them followed the other Gryffindors up to Gryffindor Tower. When they came to the portrait of the Fat Lady in the pink dress, Hermione said, "Grouchy Ghosts." The portrait swung open, admitting them to the Gryffindor Common room.  
The room was the same as it had been all of Harry's years at Hogwarts. The armchairs were scattered about the room, the fireplace was burning brightly, there were tables set up for homework, and there were two staircases. One staircase led up to the boys' dormitories, the other led to the girls' dormitories. Tired and feeling as heavy as lead, Ron and Harry wished Hermione and Renata a goodnight and they trudged up the stairs to the door that read SIXTH YEARS. Behind the door the room was just as Harry had been picturing it throughout the summer; the five four-poster beds with their scarlet hangings were positioned around the room, the nightstands were beside the beds and at the end of each bed was the boy's trunk which had been brought up while they were at the feast.  
Harry, Ron, Neville, Seamus, and Dean put on their pajamas, murmured goodnight, and climbed into their beds without another word.  
  
In the morning Harry woke with the sunlight streaming in through the window. Harry stretched, yawned, and opened the hangings to retrieve his glasses from the nightstand. It took him a moment to remember where he was and after that it took another moment to remember that it was Saturday and he had no classes. Harry considered going back to sleep but instead he went down to the Great Hall for breakfast; he didn't bother to wait for Hermione or to wakeup Ron, the events of the night before were trickling back into his train of thought. Hagrid was missing. Sirius was teaching as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Lupin was filling in for the unexplained absence of Hagrid.  
Harry was halfway through with his scrambled eggs when Ron, Hermione, and Renata came down.  
"I was wondering when you'd come down," he remarked pulling out some chairs.  
"Wondering when we'd come down? You didn't bother to wake me," Ron said.  
"I was thinking about last night. Hagrid's not here, Sirius is, Lupin is. Don't you think it's all a bit strange?"  
"Of course it is."  
"I'm just glad we don't have classes today," stated Renata. "I'm just not up for classes today. I'm tired."  
"Could it be because you were up half the night reading?" asked Hermione.  
Renata shot her a quizzical look, "How did you know?"  
"I woke up and saw a light over by your bed. I really hope you don't do that on a school night, Renata," Hermione reproached disapprovingly. "Otherwise you'll fall asleep in class and never learn a thing." Hermione said this as if not learning was the worst possible thing.  
"Let's go outside." With nothing better to do they went outside for a walk around the lake. Outside, near in the lake, the Giant Squid was swimming about lazily. Harry decided the Squid had the right idea about relaxing. He and the others settled under a tree for a talk.  
"You don't suppose that Malfoy got a black-eye, do you?"  
"Not likely. If it was up to me I would have broken his arm, but there's only so much you can do without getting detention after all." Renata sighed.  
"If we went to Durmstrang it would be so easy to push Malfoy off a glacier and make it look like an accident. Do you reckon anyone would believe it was his fault if we pushed him into the lake with rocks tied to his feet?" asked Ron hopefully.  
"No, I don't think they would," replied Harry regretfully.  
Hermione gasped, "That's awful! Both of you! I'm not sure that even Malfoy would deserve that."  
"Actually, I rather agree with them."  
"Renata!"  
Renata just chuckled.  
On their way to the Gryffindor table at lunch they passed Malfoy.  
"Nice eye, Potter."  
"Same to you. Oh wait, never mind, your face always looks that bad," replied Harry coolly. When he was done eating Harry looked up to the staff table to try and see Sirius, but he wasn't there. "I wonder where he is," he muttered.  
"Where who is?"  
"Sirius. I don't see him."  
"He's probably in his study. He's got lesson plans to take care of. Let's see if we can find him."  
Together, the four of them made there way up the stairs and through the halls until they reached the study occupied by the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Harry knocked on the door, but there was no answer. He took a chance and slowly opened it. The room was empty. 


	6. MIA

Sirius was gone. There was no sign of him anywhere. Harry looked around cautiously and nothing seemed to change.  
"Where is he?" Harry's voice echoed slightly on the empty walls.  
The others had followed him into the room.  
"It never looked this creepy last year," whispered Renata.  
"Not this creepy in any of the years that I ever saw it," said Harry. He walked around the room. By the window there was a single sheet of paper with the words:  
  
YOU'LL NEVER FIND HIM.  
Ha! Ha! Ha!  
Harry brought the note to the others. "What do you make of it?"  
"Trouble can't be starting already. It just can't! Couldn't we just have a normal year for once? Can't we?" asked Hermione, stamping her foot childishly on the last part. "I'm going to see Dumbledore."  
"I'm going to see Lupin. Maybe he can help sort this out." Harry, not waiting for or wanting to listen to a response from his friends left the room and continued through the many halls and down the staircases until he reached the ground floor and was outside on the grounds, heading toward Hagrid's hut.  
Just yards away from the hut Harry heard footsteps behind him. He glanced back briefly and saw his friends following him. He ignored them and continued on. He rapped on the door. "Professor Lupin! Are you in there? It's me Harry."  
The door opened and sure enough, there was Professor Lupin. He saw Harry's face. "What's the matter, Harry?" He glanced up and saw the others coming. Lupin led Harry inside and beckoned the others to follow.  
"So what has happened?"  
"You haven't by any chance seen Sirius, have you?"  
"No, Harry, I haven't, not since last night. Did you check his study?"  
"Yes, and no one was there, Professor. But we did find this note there." Harry extracted it from his pocket and handed it to him.  
"What do you make of it?" asked Hermione anxiously.  
"I don't know, yet. Have you gone to anyone about it?"  
"No, just you."  
Lupin frowned slightly, looking at the note once more.  
"Uncle Remus, can't you make heads or tails of it?" asked Renata.  
"No, I'm afraid I can't. We should take this to Dumbledore."  
Harry absentmindedly stroked Fang, Hagrid's boarhound; Fang was drooling on Harry's robes. "What about Hagrid?"  
Lupin signed in a resigned way, "I guess I had better tell you the truth, I wouldn't tell you anything but the truth of course. No one's heard from Hagrid since mid-August. We don't know where he is or what happened. Only that we can't find him."  
"But what about locator spells?"  
"We tried and they failed."  
Ron and the others paled, "D-does that mean that he's d-"  
"No, even if you're dead locator spells should be able to track down your body."  
"Then what is it that went wrong?" asked Hermione.  
"There are some spells you can use to keep from being detected. And there are certain places that are even out of the range of location spells."  
"You mean too far away?"  
"No, I mean places where you can't be detected."  
Harry paled. "What about Sirius? Couldn't we set some locator spells for him?"  
"The spell itself won't be that long but you do need a potion that takes a week to brew at the soonest possible."  
"A week!"  
"That's the best I can do, kids. I'm sorry about it, really I am."  
Reluctantly and more discontented than before, Harry and the others went back to the castle. Harry walked the corridors slowly, letting the others get ahead of him so he would have the chance to think. He didn't get much of a chance to though because as he passed McGonagall's study he heard voices and couldn't keep from creeping over to the door to hear better.  
"What is the meaning of this?" asked Snape's voice.  
"Well, I saw no reason not to come," a new voice asked. It was a girl's voice, young, a bit defiant.  
"No reason other than the fact that you're dead? Or haven't you noticed?"  
"I did notice as a matter of fact. But I saw no reason not to come. After all a ghost can learn just as well as anyone. I need a place to stay and this is as good as any and since I was supposed to come here this year anyway-classes, you know-it seemed to make the most sense." So it was the ghost Harry had seen sorted the night before.  
McGonagall asked, in a tone gentler than Snape's, "But, you can't hold a wand or a quill, or anything."  
"I know, but I'd still love to sit in on the classes all the same. I don't really know much."  
"I'll leave it to you to decide, Albus," declared Professor McGonagall.  
Dumbledore replied, "I see no problem with the situation."  
Harry heard chairs scrape and he backed away from the door quickly as several teachers, Dumbledore, and Artemis Smithington's ghost came out.  
"Ah, Harry," said Dumbledore, catching Harry by the elbow. "Would you mind leading Artemis here to the Gryffindor common room?"  
As the Headmaster and the teachers left Harry and the ghost started on the rest of the way to the Tower.  
"Are you from a wizard family or are you a Muggle-born?" inquired Artemis.  
"My mum was a Muggle-born but I think my dad was born a wizard."  
"You think? Wouldn't you know?"  
"No. My parents died when I was young and my Muggle aunt and uncle don't talk about them," Harry said flatly.  
Artemis glided in front of him, looking at his face carefully, with a penetrating stare, "You're Harry Potter!"  
Harry hadn't realized she had stopped gliding and he walked right through her; it was unpleasant, like being surrounded by ice. "Yeah. I am. What about you, Muggle or wizard parents?"  
"Both actually. My mum was a witch and my dad was a Muggle. That's partly why it's not ideal for me to stay around the house. Muggles over the house all the time. So what about the other ghosts here?"  
"There's the Fat Friar, he's the Hufflepuff ghost and he seems very nice. Nearly-Headless-Nick is the Gryffindor ghost, he's nice too, you'll like him. Now-"  
"Nearly-Headless? How does that work?"  
"Like this," there was a voice behind them and they turned. Nearly- Headless-Nick was behind them. He pulled on his ear and his head swung out as if it were on a hinge.  
"Nick, this is.er-"  
"Artemis Smithington," introduced the ghost.  
Nick swung his head back upright. "I am Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington."  
"So what happened to your neck?"  
"I was hit forty-two times in the neck with a blunt axe."  
"I was hit by a truck."  
"So, are you staying around?"  
"Yes, I'm going to be taking classes."  
"I must be going," Nick said, "I promised to meet the Grey Lady this morning. Goodbye, Harry, Artemis." He glided off.  
"Friendly. What about the others?"  
"The Bloody Baron doesn't really talk ever. I've never spoken to the Grey Lady. Professor Binns, the History of Magic teacher is a ghost, but to be frank, I'm not sure he that knows he's dead. There's Moaning Myrtle, too. She haunts the girls' bathroom on the second floor."  
"Why?"  
"She died in there. But she doesn't like that she's dead and so she just sits there sulking."  
"How exactly would you know this?"  
"I've talked to her."  
"When she comes out of the bathroom?"  
"Not exactly. Here's the portrait. You could just glide through, of course, but I can't. Grouchy Ghosts."  
"Excuse me?" asked Artemis.  
"It's the password." The portrait swung open admitting them to the tower.  
Artemis floated off to talk to the other students and Harry gladly joined his friends.  
"What was all that about?"  
Harry summarized his trip back to the Tower.  
"A ghost student?"  
"Yeah."  
At dinner that night Seamus said, "So, Harry, what's Sirius like?"  
"How do you mean?"  
"We heard he was your godfather. I bet he'll be great at teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year."  
"He's certainly had enough practice." Harry thought back to the Dementors, and everything else Sirius had been through.  
"That's right," agreed Ron.  
"So he won't be another Lockhart?"  
"Certainly not!"  
"Alright. Just asking."  
  
The next morning Harry woke so late that there was no one in the dorm. He didn't mind. He wasn't in the mood to talk to people. He wanted the day to be over. He groaned. Already he wanted the day over and it hadn't even begun yet!  
He went downstairs to the common room. Ron and Hermione were waiting.  
"Where's Renata?"  
"Still asleep, I think," answered Hermione.  
"I wanted to know if she knew when Quiditch tryouts were this year," said Harry.  
"Second or third week of September would be my guess," came a voice from the girls' staircase.  
"Oh. Morning, Renata," Harry greeted.  
"Same to the three of you."  
"Definitely a rebuilding year for our team. We've got a decent Seeker who has been on the team six years; A Keeper who has been playing on a team for five years; and that's about it."  
"You're forgetting some people."  
"Like who?" asked Harry. "Our other five players left, they graduated."  
"Claire will play. You've seen her, she's good," Renata pointed out.  
"And Ginny was practicing for weeks this summer," added Ron.  
"She's interested in flying?" asked Harry.  
"Didn't you know?"  
"No."  
"Come on let's go downstairs. I'm hungry."  
Between mouthfuls of oatmeal Ron suggested, "I think we should talk to Lupin today, you know, see about that potion."  
"You're right. If it'll take a week to brew we might as well start as soon as possible."  
"You don't think it's possible that Sirius could still be in the castle somewhere, do you?" asked Harry as they crossed the grounds.  
"Probably not. I dunno. Where could he possibly be? I wonder if Dumbledore knows he's gone."  
"How can he?" asked Hermione.  
"How can he not?" challenged Ron.  
"Stop bickering. Professor Lupin!" Harry rapped on the door. "Professor!"  
The door opened.  
"Professor, we want the list of ingredients os we can find Sirius."  
Harry peered into the room and saw that there was someone there besides Lupin.  
"Er-hello, Professor Snape," said Harry.  
The hooknose, sallow skinned, greasy haired potions master, Professor Snape, answered, "Just bringing his medication."  
Harry saw the smoking goblet.  
Snape stood up, "I'll be leaving. Potter, stay away from my office."  
Harry muttered, "Gladly."  
Harry sat down at the table and Ron, Hermione, and Renata followed him. "Professor, we need a list of the ingredients for that potion."  
"But you won't be able to get them all yourself."  
"We'll manage."  
"No, you'll never find the powdered hens' teeth on your own. They're extremely rare. I can find you some though." He got some parchment and began to make a list of ingredients, which he reluctantly turned over to the students. "Be careful, and don't get caught. This spell is restricted."  
"We won't. Thank you."  
"Good luck."  
Gratefully, they took the parchment and went back to Gryffindor Tower as quickly as they could. They settled in a corner to read their list.  
"This doesn't look too difficult, but I don't believe we can really start until tomorrow," Hermione said. "Some of these things we can get from our basic potions ingredient packs, but others have to come from the student supply cupboard and we can't go there until classes start."  
"Well then, I guess we better make the best start we can now. Shouldn't we? We'll get the first ingredients ready here and I suppose tomorrow we can move them to the same place as last time."  
"We better not get caught there," said Ron uncomfortably.  
"Don't worry, we never really did get caught before, and we'll go in and out under my invisibility cloak."  
"Where exactly?" asked Renata.  
"We'll tell you later."  
"I suggest we get started," announced Hermione.  
"You're right."  
Hermione ran upstairs for her potions kit. They began preparing ingredients at one of the tables. Holding sharp knives to slice and dice the caterpillar legs and assorted roots and such, no one cared to disturb them. At last they had finished what they could for the time. They used scouring charms to clean the grime out from beneath their nails. Hermione brought down an old cauldron and they swept the ingredients off the table and into it.  
"Tomorrow we'll add the other ingredients and let it simmer."  
Neville, passing by, came to inquire about what they were doing.  
"Oh, this is a new potion I'm working on. Extra credit, you know," beamed Hermione.  
When Neville was out of earshot, Ron sniggered. "Nice acting, Hermione. You can lie like a pro now."  
"I wouldn't dream of it. I only lied to Neville because I couldn't very well tell him the truth."  
  
At breakfast the next day they received their schedules.  
"We start with McGonagall and then-"  
"Ugh, we've got Snape today and it's still double with the Slytherins," groaned Ron.  
Harry looked disgusted, "The torture continues: Divination."  
"Really not a good day for us?" chirped Renata.  
"Us? At least you don't have to go hear some batty old witch predict your death."  
"Actually, take a look at my schedule and you'll see that you are wrong."  
Harry looked at her schedule. "Huh?"  
"I switched classes. Some stuff-like mind reading-isn't that bad and I wanted to see how much you two were over exaggerating on how bad the class is," Renata answered.  
"Renata, if you're smart you'll transfer out of there like I did," Hermione told her. "By the way, we have to remember to get the rest of those potions ingredients from class today," reminded them as they entered Professor McGonagall's room.  
Professor McGonagall stood there, waiting; she did not look pleased. "Settle down." The look in her eyes told them that she wanted immediate silence. "This year we will be doing further studies of human transfiguration; this is extremely difficult and can have horrifying results when not done right so please pay close attention at all times."  
She went on to explain the basics and they took page after page of notes before, at last, Professor McGonagall gave them a task. They were told to transfigure the head of the person next to them into a cat. Harry was paired with Ron, Renata was with Seamus, Hermione was paired with Neville, and so the list went on.  
Hermione was the only one who fully grasped the concept and was able to perform the spell flawlessly, but she ended up with rabbit ears because of Neville and somehow a dog tail. It took Professor McGonagall a while to sort everyone out (Harry had ended up with an orange beard though they weren't sure how). Renata had laughed and said that orange wasn't his color though she thought the beard suited him, but this interrupted her spell and unfortunately Seamus ended up with horns. It took so long for Professor McGonagall to sort things out that they missed morning break and they were all late for potions.  
Snape was extremely nasty, even though they explained it wasn't their fault they were late.  
"We had to wait for Professor McGonagall to fix our faces!"  
"Well, then you should have been more careful about not messing them up to begin with. Twenty points from Gryffindor for everyone's tardiness."  
"But that's not fair!"  
"Twenty-five points. Do you wish to make it more? Take out your books!"  
The class followed instructions. The Gryffindors were gloomy and the Slytherins were thoroughly enjoying the Gryffindors' misery. Harry anxiously glanced back and forward between Snape and Hermione.  
Hermione was taking the remaining ingredients they needed from the student supply cupboard while Harry made a diversion. He had used a banishing charm on Crabbe's cauldron in order to make it crash into Malfoy's. Deliberately causing trouble in Snape's class was like tickling a sleeping dragon, but it was necessary. They had every right to take things from the student supply cupboard, but they didn't want Snape snooping around and asking questions. Unfortunately, Snape had the mess with the cauldrons cleaned up before Hermione was done and now he was glaring at Harry. Though Snape had no way to prove Harry was responsible, Harry was worried because Hermione was going to get caught if something didn't keep Snape's attention diverted. Renata and Ron acted before he did, though.  
"Professor Snape, I think there's too much Unicorn hair in Ron's potion."  
"There is not!" cried Ron.  
"Yes there is."  
"No there's not!"  
"Yes there is. Professor, don't you think Weasly's potion is too thin?"  
Snape came over to inspect the potions. "Yes, Weasly, add an eagle feather."  
"I was right!" crowed Renata.  
"Delano, yours is too thick. Add another unicorn hair.  
By then Hermione had finished and was smiling gratefully at her friends. Harry was glad when class was over.  
"You got it all?"  
"Yeah. We better bring this stuff back up to Gryffindor Tower. We'll take care of it later but I don't want it all in my pockets," Hermione said.  
They all hustled up to Gryffindor tower. Hermione went to the girls' dormitory to put away the ingredients.  
Harry turned to Renata and Ron, "That was quick thinking back there."  
"Distraction is my middle name," smiled Renata.  
Hermione came back down. "All set. Let's go."  
They walked down to the Great Hall. "So tonight we can work on the potion. Should we bother with that cloak of yours, Harry?" asked Renata as they sat down to eat.  
"It's up to you guys, I guess."  
"I'd be fine without it and so would Renata, but you two should probably wear it. Wouldn't want to get in trouble right?" asked Hermione, with a sly grin.  
"I guess you're right."  
"Where are we going?" asked Renata.  
"We'll tell you later."  
"All right. So where is the North Tower? I've never been up there."  
"It takes forever to get up there," said Ron.  
"We should probably leave now, then," Renata said all too cheerfully.  
"I don't know why you say it like that," Harry and Hermione said simultaneously.  
"Let's go." Hermione walked with them for as far as their paths were the same then she turned for her Arithmacy class.  
The other three continued on to the North Tower. Eventually they reached the landing.  
Renata looked around. "I don't see anymore stairs."  
Harry jabbed his finger into the ceiling above them. A silvery rope ladder descended from the trap door. "After you," he said with mock courtesy, doing a half bow.  
Renata grinned and climbed the ladder with ease. Harry, Ron, and the other Gryffindors followed. The room smelled strongly of perfumes and was stifling hot, with the fireplace burning. A woman with eyes largely magnified by her glasses welcomed them and invited them to settle into the armchairs and poufs arranged around the tables.  
"Today we shall return once more to unveiling the mysteries of the future. You," she pointed dramatically to Harry, "will face great difficulties this year, before the year is out you will come to me for counsel."  
  
Harry whispered to Ron, "Fat chance. I don't want to see her any more often than I have to."  
Professor Trelawny went on to proclaim that the new student in their midst had a very strong aura. "My dear, you could become great you know, with extra practice. I sense a powerful aura about you."  
"Gosh, too bad I don't have any time. Really. Such a pity. Quiditch practice, you know," Renata sardonically replied.  
"Yes, I did know that. I wish I weren't right. Class, take out your books and turn to page forty-five. We will be learning how to put ourselves into trances that allow us to see the future. Now if you'll follow along." She led them through the steps that would allow them to be put into trances that would let them see the future.  
"Calm yourself. Breathe slowly. When I ring this bell go into your trances. To become fully engrossed in what will be, you must recite the verses on page forty-five, close your eyes and continue chanting them. Don't forget to breathe slowly and deeply. Rotate your neck three times clockwise with one hand on each end of your wand. Ready?" Professor Trelawny rang the little bell on her desk.  
Harry felt a little silly but he closed his eyes and chanted with the rest of them. Inside his mind it seemed there was blackness (although that was probably because his eyes were closed) and there was a humming in his head (possibly from the other students chanting). Soon it became clear that this wasn't the case. The humming grew stronger. The blackness cleared until it was simply darkness.  
It lightened further still to show four shadowy figures. One was walking away, another lay sprawled on the grass, and the remaining two figures leaned over the one on the grass. The one walking away was going toward some trees. One of the kneeling figures stood up and was following the one walking away; it grew darker again. The darkness became total and the humming grew back into being the sound of voices. When Harry snapped his eyes open once more he was holding his head in pain. Then it was gone, but the questions were not.  
"Harry?" muttered Ron.  
Harry had shut his eyes again. The scar pain had subsided but he was breathing shallowly.  
"Harry?" murmured Renata.  
Someone jabbed Harry in the ribs.  
Harry looked up and found Professor Trelawny staring back at him. "What did you see?"  
"Nothing, Professor," he lied.  
"Come now, it must have been something."  
"It was-er-Gryffindor winning the Quiditch Cup this year."  
"Oh," she looked disappointed and moved on to inquire about what the others saw.  
"Harry, what was it?" whispered Ron.  
"Nothing. Why'd you jab me in the stomach?"  
"Yeah right, Harry. What was it?" asked Renata.  
Professor Trelawny was coming back near them.  
Harry mouthed, "I'll tell you later."  
It seemed to take forever for the rest of the class time to pass but at last they had descended down the rope ladder once more and went out into the hallway.  
"So what was it?"  
"Not now."  
"When then?"  
"After dinner."  
"After dinner we're all working on something, remember?"  
"Fine. When we see Hermione."  
"What when you see me?" asked Hermione, coming up to the three of them in the hall.  
"Harry's going to tell us why he spaced during Divination," Renata replied.  
"I didn't space."  
"Yes you did."  
"No I didn't."  
Hermione sighed, "Will someone at least tell me what happened?" She and the others sat down at the table.  
Harry looked to make sure no one but the three of them were listening to him. "Alright, I had a vision."  
Renata chuckled, "Wasn't that the point of the assignment?"  
"Yeah, but this was strange. Did either of you see anything?"  
Ron shook his head.  
Renata said, "I can't say that I did."  
"I thought so," Harry sighed. "It was hard to tell, it was really dark as though it was nighttime where the vision was taking place. There were people. Four of them. One was walking away. One was on the ground; the other two were leaning over the one on the ground. Then one of them got up and followed the person walking away."  
"What did the place look like?"  
"I don't know! It was dark, grassy."  
"Where were they going? The ones who started walking, that is."  
"Toward some trees. Maybe a-a forest!"  
"This forest?"  
"I don't know!"  
"Why not?"  
"I just don't!"  
Ginny, sitting nearby, heard the outburst from Harry. "What don't you know, Harry?" she asked, shyly.  
"Er-"  
"He doesn't know our Transfiguration homework. He wasn't paying attention in class. Were you, Harry?" asked Renata.  
"No, I wasn't. Stupid of me, huh?" he grinned at Ginny. "I don't know what was running through my mind."  
When Ginny's attention was distracted once more they returned to the conversation.  
"So, what do you guys think?" he asked anxiously.  
"I dunno."  
Hermione shook her head.  
"I don't know what to make of it."  
"Neither do I," sighed Harry. "Let's go."  
Inside the common room they sat by the fire. Harry stared into the flames. At last Hermione said, "We should probably work on that extra credit potions assignment, shouldn't we?"  
It took a moment for them to remember what she meant. "Huh? Oh, right."  
"I'll get the ingredients," volunteered Hermione.  
"Harry shouldn't you get your cloak? It might be cold," Ron said.  
"Yeah. I guess I should."  
Renata turned to Harry and looked at him with a pointed I-need-to-say- something-to-you expression on her face.  
"Ron, could you get it for me?"  
"But you might want to put it on upstairs."  
"Then I'll be up in just a minute. Okay?"  
Hermione and Ron went up separate staircases.  
Renata spoke softly, "It wasn't just the vision today, was it?"  
Harry didn't answer.  
"Your scar hurt, didn't it? After the vision."  
He spoke quietly, "Yeah.it did. But.how did you know?"  
"I'm not sure." She smiled weakly. "It might have something to do with the fact that you grabbed your forehead but somehow I just knew, it's his scar again. I don't know how I knew, but I did. Right before you put your hand on your forehead, I knew."  
"Don't say anything to the others. 'Kay?" he said gruffly.  
"I won't. Go upstairs, Ron's waiting."  
Harry turned and went up the staircase.  
"What took so long?" complained an invisible Ron.  
"Sorry. I was talking."  
"Come on. Get under the cloak."  
"I can't." He laughed. "I can't see you!"  
"Right." Ron flipped back the hood of the cloak so it appeared that his head was suspended in midair.  
"That's creepy, Ron. That's just creepy." Harry joined Ron under the cloak.  
Hermione and Renata were waiting downstairs. "We're here," whispered Harry.  
Hermione did her best to pass them the cauldron to hide under the cloak.  
Renata whispered to Hermione, "Shouldn't we be invisible, too?"  
"No, we don't have to be. Just them."  
The four of them left Gryffindor Tower and didn't stop until they had reached their destination on the second floor.  
"What are we doing here?" asked Renata. "We aren't going to the Chamber again, are we?"  
"No. We're just going to use one of the stalls to work in. Come on."  
They went inside and Harry and Ron whipped off the cloak quickly. Then, they heard voices. They backed up against the door, fumbling with the knob. 


	7. Glum Ghosts

"What are you doing here?" the voice didn't seem totally shocked, just curious.  
Harry looked to the speaker. "Er-Hi, Myrtle."  
"You've decided to start visiting again." Moaning Myrtle sounded almost happy. She was the reason none of the girls ever used this bathroom. Then she became melancholy again, "What are they doing here?" She pointed to Hermione and Renata.  
"They're helping us."  
"Oh." Myrtle floated back to her stall.  
"Come on," Hermione said, opening the door of another stall. She conjured a small fire inside the toilet. "Harry, could you get me some water?"  
She set the cauldron over the fire while Harry brought water. Hermione took out a large ladle to stir the potion with. After stirring nine times clockwise she stirred three times counterclockwise.  
"So that it's?" asked Harry.  
"Not quite. Four days from now we add the powdered hens' teeth that we'll get from Professor Lupin."  
"Okay. Let's get out of here," Ron said uncomfortably.  
Harry was just turning to don the invisibility cloak when Myrtle asked, "Are you leaving already?"  
"We don't want to get in trouble with the teachers."  
"Oh. Are you coming back?"  
"Sure."  
Myrtle seemed to brighten considerably at this response.  
Harry and Ron got under the cloak and left with the girls.  
  
At breakfast, while the mail was being delivered, an owl came to Harry.  
Ron looked over, "What is it Harry?"  
"I dunno." Harry opened the letter.  
  
YOU WON'T FIND SIRIUS BLACK,  
SO GIVE UP NOW. HA HA HA!  
  
"It's not signed." Harry passed the letter to Ron.  
Ron passed it to Hermione and as Hermione passed it to Renata she asked, "Who would write something like this?"  
"How could anyone possibly know?" Harry murmured.  
"I bet it was Malfoy," Ron said, clenching his fists.  
"But he couldn't possibly know Sirius was missing unless-"  
"Unless he had something to do with it."  
"Calm down. We shouldn't jump to conclusions."  
"It had to have been him. Who else could it have been?" asked Ron.  
"I don't know but we should probably wait until later to discuss this."  
They agreed and went to class. After stumbling through Freezing Charms they went on to learn about Kneazles from Professor Lupin and bored beyond belief in History of Magic they were finally free from classes for the day.  
Harry was walking along the hall on the second floor when he her someone crying inside a room. It was the girls' bathroom. Harry debated with himself whether or not to look in and see whom it was. Ron had called Hermione a "bossy, know-it-all" today, again. Harry hadn't noticed her to be particularly upset but maybe she was; and when Hermione was upset she went to the bathroom to cry. After a moment's hesitation he opened the door and went inside. It was just Moaning Myrtle wailing again.  
Harry was just about to leave, when he saw the doorknob turn. He panicked and scuttled into the stall with the cauldron. He locked the stall door and peeked through the crack to see who it was. It was Ginny, and she was crying.  
Amid Ginny and Myrtle's sobs Harry could make out some words from Ginny. ".hates me" and "not fair" were among the repeated words.  
After what seemed like an eternity to Harry, Ginny left. Harry gave a sigh of relief. He hadn't expected anyone to be here at all (except Moaning Myrtle, of course). He gave Ginny a few minutes to leave the area before he went outside the bathroom. Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one out there.  
"Potter!" It was Snape; and Harry didn't like the tone of his voice. "What were you doing in there? That is clearly a girls' restroom and you are not a girl, Potter. Unless you're hiding something."  
"Er-"  
"I'm waiting," he said nastily.  
"I thought I heard someone crying in there."  
"That's no excuse, detention. Be in my office at eight o'clock." He turned to leave but called over his shoulder, "Potter, stay out of the girls' bathroom from now on."  
In a foul temper, Harry went back to Gryffindor Tower. He found Ron talking to Hermione and Renata.  
"Harry you said you were going for a short walk. What took so long?" asked Ron.  
Harry recounted what had happened.  
"That was nice of you, Harry. You're a good friend; but I wasn't really upset by what Ron said. He's said it often enough," Hermione told him.  
Harry asked Ron, "What about Ginny? What was she so sad about?"  
Hermione looked at Ron severely. "I hope you weren't teasing her."  
"I wasn't! Honestly I wasn't, this time."  
"So you've got detention with Snape?"  
"Yeah."  
"Yikes. When?"  
"Tonight. Half an hour from now."  
"Did you give anymore thought to that letter?"  
"I completely forgot about it." Harry took out the letter again.  
They still didn't recognize the writing.  
"It's probably just a joke, Harry."  
"But who'd joke about something like this?  
"Harry, do you still have the other letter?"  
"What other letter?" asked Harry, confused.  
"The one you got out of Sirius's study."  
"It's upstairs. I'll find it later. I've got to take care of my detention. I'll see you later." Harry unenthusiastically made his way down to the dungeons. He stood reluctantly by the door of Snape's study. Harry heard voices and realized Snape wasn't the only one in there.  
"Draco, I've already warned you."  
"Professor, must I?"  
"You shouldn't have hexed that boy where Professor McGonagall could see you. I thought you had more sense."  
"Why are you making me do this?"  
"Draco, I wouldn't have given you detention; Professor McGonagall did and she'll make sure you do it."  
Malfoy mumbled something Harry couldn't quite make the words out of.  
"You're right, Draco. Potter deserves detention at all times, but you see: he already has detention tonight. If he isn't here in one minute I'll double it for his being late!" He laughed coldly.  
The incentive not to get more detention with Snape made Harry knock on the door. "Professor Snape? I'm here to serve my detention."  
The door opened and the scene was just as Harry had pictured it. Snape's detestable study was just as Harry had remembered it (but with even more jars of gruesome things). Draco Malfoy was sitting on a chair, smirking at the fact that Harry had detention and Snape looked cross about losing the opportunity to double Harry's detention.  
"What does Potter have detention for?" sneered Malfoy.  
Snape smiled maliciously. "Potter was caught in the girls' bathroom."  
Malfoy started laughing until he was gasping for air and banging his fists on Snape's desk. "The girls' bathroom, Potter? What's next? Are you going to move all your things into the girls' dormitory?" He doubled up, laughing uncontrollably again.  
"Yeah. That's right, Malfoy," Harry said sarcastically.  
"Come, Potter." Snape picked up a lantern and led Harry out of the office and down to some of the deeper dungeons. He took out an old bronze key and unlocked the door. He unlocked the door and snapped his fingers. A broom (not a flying one), a dust rag, and some cleanser, appeared beside them.  
"Potter, I want you to clean this dungeon top to bottom."  
Harry looked in the dark room. "But no one even uses this room!"  
"I know." Snape set down the lantern and left.  
Grumbling, Harry stepped inside the room. It was extremely dark and it smelled musty. Harry started sweeping and using the cleanser. Every so often he thought he heard something in the back of the room; then it would stop. After about two hours he had worked his was to the back of the room (as well as worked up a sweat). He sat down on a recently cleaned patch of the floor.  
Harry heard the sound again. This time there was no maybe about it, he had definitely heard it. "Who's there?"  
The sound sounded again.  
"Who is it?" Harry raised the dirty broom in one hand over his head like a club, and held out the lantern in the other hand. A man was tied up on the ground, struggling to get free.  
"Sirius!" Harry knelt down beside his godfather and began to work out the knots. They wouldn't budge. "I'll get it, Sirius." He went on to work on the gag instead. At last, he forced it out. Harry leaned Sirius into a sitting position against the wall. "Are you okay?"  
"Better now."  
"What happened?"  
"I'm not really sure. Where am I? And what are we doing here?"  
"You're still at Hogwarts. We're in one of the dungeons; one that nobody ever uses. I don't know how you got down here but I'm doing a detention for Snape. I'm almost done."  
"I'm going to try to remember what happened."  
"Then I guess I'll finish cleaning." As soon as Harry was done cleaning the room he attempted to undo the knots. The attempt proved futile. "I can't get it, Sirius. These knots won't move."  
"Do you have your wand on you?"  
"Yes." Harry drew it out. "What spell?"  
"A Severing Charm."  
"I know that one." Harry performed the charm several times. Eventually the ropes were all off. Harry dropped the cleaning things off at Snape's office before going back with Sirius to his study. They made it, and mercifully because of the late hour he'd finished his detention, there wasn't really anyone walking around.  
Sirius rubbed his hands and ankles a little to get the feeling back in them. Soon, Sirius escorted Harry back to Gryffindor tower.  
"I won't sidetrack," Harry had said when Sirius had announced he'd be escorting him.  
"No, but the teachers could yell at you for being out so late. Come on." Sirius escorted him back to the tower and left. He had no idea what had happened to him, even after thinking for a while. He told Harry so and promised to tell him if he remembered.  
Harry went to find Ron, Hermione, and Renata. Only Renata was there and she was asleep with a note stuck on her. It read, in large, threatening letters: WAKE ME UP, HARRY. OR ELSE!  
Harry couldn't help grinning. He knew what "or else" could be; Renata was particularly handy with assorted jinxes and curses. He nudged Renata in the arm and shook her until she woke up.  
"Got any news worth hearing?" she asked, stretching her arms.  
"I found Sirius."  
"This is good. Get Ron. I'll get Hermione. I sent them off to get rest; otherwise they wouldn't be worth owl droppings in class tomorrow." They went up the separate staircases to get their friends.  
When the four of them were in the common room again, Harry related the story. They discussed the possibilities of how Sirius had ended up in the locked room, who had done it and sent the notes-the handwriting of both notes matched-but they still hadn't the faintest idea of an answer to these questions when they all went upstairs for rest.  
  
The next morning, as Harry walked passed the Slytherin table there were peals of laughter. Draco Malfoy called, "Hey Potter! Visited the girls' bathroom yet, this morning?"  
Pansy added, "Ew! I hope he never walks in on me!"  
Their words dissolved most of the table into laughter once more. Blushing profusely, Harry sat down next to Ron.  
"Harry, how does Malfoy know?"  
"Did I forget to tell you last night? Malfoy was in Snape's office and Snape told him what I had detention for."  
"Yikes."  
Dean came over and asked, "Is it true, Harry? What Malfoy said?"  
"Unfortunately."  
Lavender gasped, "Why?"  
Harry thought fast to the story he had told Snape, it'd work just as well for this. "Someone said something mean to Hermione earlier and I heard someone crying in there so I thought it might be her. I didn't know there was a crying ghost in there." So he did know about the crying ghost, he wasn't positive Myrtle would be there so it was only a half lie.  
Parvati squealed, "You didn't know that bathroom was haunted?"  
"How could I know?" Harry asked innocently.  
Some of the Gryffindors were still laughing a little or giggling a bit, but a lot of them had decided that it was sweet of him and that Harry had really been trying to do something nice. They also remarked on how good it was that he was such a concerned friend.  
When the cause of his detention had been settled, Harry looked up to the staff table. Sure enough, Sirius was there.  
When it was time they got up and went to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.  
Sirius was already waiting (seated on top of his desk). "Class, we are going to go back to the basics. Can anyone tell me exactly what are the Dark Arts? Anyone at all?"  
Hermione raised her hand. "I think it would be all things having to do with dark magic and malevolent magical creatures used by those supporting the dark arts."  
"Excellent. Three points for Gryffindor." Sirius got off the desk and went to the blackboard. He wrote two words and underlined both of them: WIZARDS, CREATURES.  
"You've had a fair grounding in both of these. Wizards can do some awful things to each other using magic, all sorts of curses, hexes, and jinxes. But other wizards aren't the only threat. As you know there are also Dark creatures. You," he pointed to Neville. "Your name?"  
"Neville Longbottom."  
"Right. Longbottom? I remember.Never mind that. Give me the name of a dark creature."  
"Snape," he said. The class giggled Sirius chuckled and he stuttered, "I-I-I mean Boggart, Professor."  
"Good, but I rather agree with the first one, too. You," Sirius pointed to Lavender, "Give me another of the creatures."  
"Vampires."  
Sirius went around the room asking the names and writing the Dark creature names and writing them on the board. Then when he was back at Neville. "Give me a curse, hex, or jinx."  
"The Leg-locker Curse."  
"Good, next. Don't be afraid to say the three most punishable curses, I know you all know what they are."  
  
Harry heard a great many curses and such that he already knew and even some he hadn't heard of; Sirius wrote them all on the board.  
"I am going to need some volunteers," as Sirius said this hands went up. "Volunteers to help me with these curses," every hand went down. "No one wants to volunteer? Then I'll have to choose someone. Harry, be my test dummy."  
Harry didn't like the sound of that. He got up and walked cautiously over to where Sirius was standing.  
"We'll start with something simple: the leg-locker curse. Harry, when I perform this spell your legs will snap together. Ready?"  
"No."  
"Good. Locomotor Mortis!"  
Harry's legs sprung together and he almost fell over, bringing much laughter from his classmates. Sirius preformed the counter-curse and taught it to them. Then he also showed them a block to use against the curse when he let Harry try to curse him.  
"Class it's time to leave and you have no homework tonight. I'll see you in class on Friday."  
Harry stayed to talk to Sirius. "Not bad for your first class," he grinned.  
"Thanks. Now go on. Don't you have Charms or something?"  
"No. Herbology." Harry left and found Ron, Hermione, and Renata waiting outside the door.  
"Come on, Harry. We don't want Professor Sprout to be mad at us for being late."  
Later that night, in the common room, Harry caught up on the way world Quiditch was going.  
"Harry, the Cannons finally did it! They made it to the Semi-Semi- Semi-Finals!"  
"Really?" The Chuddley Cannons were about the worst team in the wizarding world.  
"Yeah."  
Renata came over, "Speaking of Quiditch, Gryffindor's team looks pretty empty this year Harry."  
"I know. I don't know what we're going to do. If we lose to Slytherin."  
"We won't lose to Slytherin, or any other team for that matter. It'll be a tough year but if you start making them practice as much as you did last year I'll lead another revolt."  
"But Renata-"  
"No buts."  
Harry yawned, "Fine, no buts."  
Hermione looked him. "Harry, you look really tired. You too, Ron. Go upstairs."  
Ron stifled a yawn, "W-w-we're not tired."  
"March upstairs right now."  
"You heard her," Renata said, "March."  
  
Before Harry knew it the week was over and it was already Saturday. Harry was sleeping in late, or at least, that's what he had planned to do. But someone woke him up. 


	8. Wake up Call

"Harry Potter, sir!"  
"Huh?"  
"Harry Potter, sir! You must wake up!"  
Automatically Harry reached for his glasses. He pushed them up the bridge of his nose and asked, "What's the matter, Dobby?" Harry looked at the house-elf standing beside his bed.  
"Harry Potter must come with me!"  
"Where? Why?"  
"Dobby has something to show you."  
"Dobby, it's early. Can't this wait?"  
"No. Harry Potter must come with Dobby now," the elf insisted urgently.  
"Alright, alright." Harry put on some slippers and followed the house- elf down the stairs. The common room was empty.  
Silently, Dobby trod onward, through the portrait hole. He stopped a little ways away. "Look, Harry Potter."  
Harry did look and his eyes widened.  
Parvati Patil lay on the ground, apparently unconscious. But that wasn't all. There appeared to be a cut along her scalp as if she'd been hit in the head by something sharp. The cut was still leaking blood. Also, her head had been shaved except for a "V" in the back of her head made of just a little bit of hair.  
"What happened to her?"  
"I don't know, Harry Potter. Dobby is coming up here to light a fire in the common room and he sees the girl like this and Dobby says, 'Dobby must tell Harry Potter!' and so Dobby tells you and brings you."  
"She's out cold, what are we supposed to do?"  
"Nurse might help, she might."  
"But how are we supposed to get her there?"  
"Dobby will stay here while Harry Potter gets his wand to bring her to the hospital."  
"I guess that's best." Quickly and quietly, Harry retraced his steps back to the dormitory. He picked up his wand, and went back down to where Dobby was waiting outside the portrait hole. "How does that spell go, again?" he muttered; Harry was trying to remember the words that would conjured a magical stretcher. Goodness knows he'd ridden in one enough times that he should have learned the spell by now. At last Harry recalled the words and got Parvati onto the stretcher. With Dobby walking beside him, Harry went to the Hospital Wing.  
He had to rap loudly on the door before Madam Pomfrey answered it, still in her nightclothes.  
"Harry! What are you doing here? It's hardly five o'clock in the morning. You don't look ill. What are you doing in your pajamas and out of bed at this hour?" she demanded.  
Harry had forgotten that he had failed to get dressed and was still in his nightwear. "Madam Pomfrey, I need help. Look." Harry stepped back, allowing Madam Pomfrey a full look at the stretcher and its occupant.  
"Oh, my!" Madam Pomfrey ushered the stretcher into the room and transferred Parvati from the stretcher to a hospital bed. Immediately she began to clean up the cut on Parvati's head and to assess the situation. "Mild concussion. Looks like someone hit her over the head. This cut is jagged. What happened to her?"  
"I don't know. Dobby, here, was coming up to the tower to light the morning fire and he found her like this and we brought her up here."  
"Her poor head. Who could have done this? And her hair." For the first time she caught a glimpse at the "V" on the back of her head. Her face paled.  
"What is it?" asked Harry.  
Madam Pomfrey didn't answer. She was silent a moment before becoming stern. "Dobby, go find Professor Dumbledore at once and tell him he is needed here immediately. Harry, go back to the dormitory. Right now. Do not come down."  
"But-"  
"Don't leave the tower until Professor Dumbledore or one of the teachers tells you to."  
Unwillingly, Harry went. He reached the tower and sat in the common room by the unlit fireplace. He conjured a fire himself. He didn't bother going back up to his dorm to try and get more rest; he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. So instead he sat by the fire.  
The "V" meant something. Harry was sure of that. He had a suspicion of what it was. Madam Pomfrey must have known for sure by the way she had reacted. Harry mused, what could have possibly drawn Parvati out of her room and the common room before five in the morning?  
Around seven o'clock the first early risers were coming down the staircases. Harry forgot to tell them not to leave, but it didn't make the slightest difference. They couldn't get out.  
"What's wrong with the door?" asked a first or second year boy.  
"I don't know. Why won't it open?" complained his companion. The two of them sat in some chairs and began to chat. As the morning progressed the scene repeated itself numerous times. At last, Hermione, Renata, and Ron, came down.  
"Where were you, Harry?"  
Harry yawned, "You won't believe this." Harry told them about waking up with Dobby there and about how they'd found Parvati and about how the door wouldn't open.  
"Harry, you really should have gone back up for a couple more hours sleep. You look exhausted."  
"I can't sleep. Who do you think did it?"  
"I don't know. What was she doing awake at that hour?"  
"Who knows?"  
"Harry," Renata said, with light humor, "Even if you won't go get more rest, at least go change out of your pajamas."  
Harry looked down and realized that he still was wearing his pajamas.  
  
He went upstairs to change and just a few minutes after he came back down, Professor Dumbledore's voice rang above their heads. "All students report to the Great Hall as soon as the head of your house comes to collect you. All students report to the Great Hall as soon as the head of your house comes to collect you. Thank you."  
It wasn't long after that that Professor McGonagall came to get them. "I want everyone to organize into a single file line. We will report to the great hall in a calm and orderly fashion."  
There were many whispers of "What is going on here?" and Lavender Brown questioned Hermione and Renata on the whereabouts of Parvati. They continually sidestepped her questions with answers like, "How are we supposed to know?" and "I'm sure she's around somewhere."  
They all ended up in the great hall with the students from the other three houses. Professor Dumbledore stood and raised his hands for silence. "We are currently taking care of the situation. Now, if you will all report outside to the Quiditch field you will find breakfast laid out for you there."  
The confused students did as they were bidden and found a buffet style breakfast set up for them. Many students took their plates and went up into the stands to eat.  
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Renata followed the example of the others and found a place to sit up in the stands. They were discussing what was happening when suddenly a shadow fell across them.  
"Excuse me?" asked the owner of the shadow.  
Harry and the others looked up. It was a Slytherin student, and a prefect at that, but they didn't recognize her. She appeared to be younger than them though she was tall and lanky.  
"Can we help you?"  
"I think so." The girl sat down. "You're Harry Potter, aren't you?"  
  
"That's my name."  
"Good. That's who I was looking for. And you are Hermione Granger, right?"  
"Yes."  
"Then my job is half-done. I was sent to find you both."  
"Who sent you?"  
"Professor McGonagall. If you'll come this way I can get the other students." She led Harry and Hermione down the stairs and then up into another set of the stands, along the way she chatted. "You always do seem to be in the thick of things, don't you?"  
"Er-"  
"Yes, you are. Always in the spotlight. Always having something on your mind. Preoccupied really. The both of you are. Wait here." She went and brought out a girl from Hufflepuff. "Follow me."  
The Hufflepuff stayed a few feet behind them and the girl continued talking. "So what really went on this morning? Why are we all locked out of Hogwarts?"  
"Locked out? We were locked in the rooms earlier but locked out of Hogwarts? Really?"  
"Oh yes. Some students tried to get back inside. Let's see, there were some Ravenclaws and who else was it? Oh, Draco was trying to get in. Tried everything but ramming his head against the door," she gave a tinkling little laugh. The group went and got seventh year, Ravenclaw boy.  
The Slytherin girl started ticking off names on her fingers and murmuring, "Tammy Burnelli, Ian Kopcha, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy is there already and-"  
"Malfoy?"  
She looked up. "Yes?"  
"What is he doing wherever we're going?"  
"Same as you."  
"Where are we going?"  
"I told you, to see Professor McGonagall."  
"Why?"  
"You'll have to find out when we get there." She led them up to the steps in front of the entrance doors.  
"I thought you said we are locked out?"  
"We are. Artemis! Artemis! Where are you, you strange ghost girl? Artemis!"  
"Stop yelling," the first year student, Artemis, came floating through the door (she was a ghost after all and she could do it).  
  
"Tell them we're ready."  
"Alright." Artemis glided back inside and a moment later the doors were opened.  
Professor McGonagall stood looking at them all. Harry couldn't interpret the look on her face as they were ushered in.  
  
They were brought to a small room with seven students as well as Professor Dumbledore and the heads of the houses.  
  
Dumbledore stood up, "Ah, thank you, Liana. Please sit down, all of you. Now I suppose you're all wondering why you are here. Four other schools have made arrangements with us for an exchange student program. Only four of you can go, one to each school, but it must be decided which four among the twelve of you will be leaving. We would like to see it be one student from each house but if it works out otherwise then it will simply work out otherwise. Now," Dumbledore went on to explain about which schools would be sending a student and how it was going to work.  
Harry began to look around at whom else was in the room. From Hufflepuff there was Justin Finch-Fletchley, a seventh year boy Harry didn't recognize, and the girl that had come in with the group. From Ravenclaw were the boy who had been part of the group, Mandy Brocklehurst, and a girl Harry didn't know.  
The Slytherins included Draco Malfoy, the girl who had gathered them (her name was Li-something or other) and a girl that looked familiar but Harry couldn't quite remember here name. Representing Gryffindor were himself, Hermione, and Neville Longbottom.  
"Any questions?" asked Dumbledore.  
Hermione raised her hand as if she were in class. "Professor, on what grounds were we chosen?"  
"There were several factors contributing to who was chosen. Acceptable grades-"  
"Then what's Longbottom doing here?" snickered Malfoy.  
"Quiet, Mister Malfoy. Acceptable grades, appropriate behavior, those who would get along well learning new cultures. Many things. If there is anyone who does not wish to participate and knows that now please sign your name on this list so that we know that."  
Harry stood up immediately and put his name on the list. He had suspicions that Dumbledore wanted him to be one of the students who went to the other schools but he had no intention of going. He was going to stay at Hogwarts and see what would happen.  
Hermione got up to put her name on the list, as did Liana. Draco sauntered over and put his name on the list as well. No one else moved.  
Professor McGonagall said, "Very well, those of you who have signed up may leave. Artemis, please escort them outside."  
The ghost led the four of them out onto the lawns again before floating back inside.  
Harry muttered to Hermione and tugged on her sleeve. When they were out earshot of the Slytherins he exclaimed, "I'm not buying this for one minute."  
"What?"  
"This. The exchange student thing."  
"Harry, a lot of schools have an exchange student program of some sort."  
"Hermione, let's review his candidates reasoning for choosing them. Academics: other than Herbology, Neville's not that good at any classes."  
"That's not fair to say. Haven't you noticed? He's been improving."  
"Hermione, we've only been here a week this year and last year he was gone for, what, 4 months or something like that. Next reason was behavior. Malfoy is bad to the core and I'm almost in trouble as much as he is. Face it; Dumbledore had something else in mind. Did you see the look that passed between him and McGonagall when I signed that paper?"  
"No."  
"Well I did. Dumbledore was hoping he could send me off somewhere to be safe, I'm sure."  
"But Harry, the safest place for you would be here with Dumbledore. It's been like that for fifteen years, you're safe wherever Dumbledore is."  
"Maybe, maybe not. What if something's changed? And Malfoy. I can guess why he was there too. If Dumbledore couldn't get rid of me I'm sure he at least wanted to get rid of Malfoy for a while so he wouldn't cause trouble."  
"You think so, Harry?" she asked gently.  
"I'm almost sure of it," he responded quietly. "Let's go. We should talk to Ron and Renata. Tell them what's going on."  
They found Ron and Renata waiting at the bottom of the stand where they had eaten breakfast. They filled them in on what had happened and Harry told him of his suspicions.  
"But why did Malfoy and that other Slytherin sign?" mused Renata.  
  
Harry said, "For a Slytherin, she wasn't that bad. Malfoy on the other hand, must definitely have plotted something."  
  
"What is it then?"  
"How am I supposed to know?"  
"Why aren't we allowed inside?"  
Someone came up to them and leaned casually against the wall. "That's always the trouble, isn't it? All questions and no answers."  
  
"Your name is Liana, right?" asked Hermione.  
"Yeah. That's right."  
"If you don't mind my asking, why didn't you want to do the exchange program?" asked Hermione.  
"Why didn't you want to do it?"  
Hermione smiled. "It seems like we're all questions and no answers again."  
"So it would seem. I'll square a deal here. Answer for answer. You tell me why you said no, I'll tell you why I said no. Sound fair?"  
  
"Yes. It does."  
"You three, go over there."  
"Why?" asked Harry.  
"If you knew why I was staying and I didn't know why you were staying it wouldn't be a fair trade of information, would it? No, it wouldn't. So, unless you care to divulge the reason why you wanted to stay, I'd prefer if you and the other two went somewhere else why I talk to Hermione."  
  
Harry and the others left them to talk. When Liana had gone Hermione came over to talk to them again.  
"She said she didn't want to leave because she likes it here and she didn't want to get used to a new school. Groups don't willingly let others in and she didn't want to spend months feeling left out."  
"And what did you tell her?" asked Ron.  
"I said I didn't want to leave my friends."  
"She bought that?"  
"It was the best I could come up with! I couldn't very well tell her that I wasn't leaving because Harry thought Malfoy was plotting to kill him or something. Honestly would you have said that?"  
"No."  
"Alright then. Besides, I would miss you all if I left."  
Harry looked over and saw Draco Malfoy talking lazily to a group of Slytherins. Liana was not among them.  
  
The students were forced to remain outside through the rest of the morning and lunch was served on the Quiditch field. There were purple and white-checkered picnic blankets on the field with a basket of food sitting on each one. The students gathered on the picnic blankets to consume their lunch.  
It wasn't until an hour after everyone was finished that they were at last allowed back in the castle. It was on the stairs that Lavender caught up with them.  
"Have you seen Parvati? I can't find her anywhere."  
  
Harry sighed. "Hospital Wing."  
Lavender gasped. "What happened? Is she alright?"  
  
Ron looked annoyed, "Is someone in the Hospital Wing usually alright?"  
Harry briefly explained. "She was outside the common room. Unconscious. Apparently someone hit her on the head with something." He didn't add the part about the shaved head.  
Lavender rushed passed Harry and the others and up in the direction of the infirmary.  
"I think we should go see Parvati. But I want to wait until Lavender is gone so we can ask Madam Pomfrey some questions." They took the walk to the Hospital Wing as slowly as they could.  
Lavender was just leaving as they reached the door. Her lip was trembling as if she might cry but she went on and they didn't speak to her.  
  
Harry opened the door and they went inside. Hermione, Ron, and Renata went to see Parvati, lying motionless on the bed. Harry went to talk to Madam Pomfrey.  
"Yes?"  
"How is she doing?"  
"She should be fine. It's like I told you earlier: she received a mild concussion and it looks as though someone hit her over the head with something sharp."  
"Do you know how it happened?"  
"No, I don't, and even if I did I wouldn't be allowed to tell a student."  
Madam Pomfrey steered the students outside. As soon as the door was shut, Renata and Hermione grinned broadly at the boys.  
"What are you so happy about?" asked Harry. "She didn't tell me anything."  
Renata smirked. "True, but while you had her distracted we got a chance to look in the file at the end of Parvati's bed."  
  
Harry asked perplexedly, "They keep files?"  
"You've been there enough times, you should have known that by now, Harry," Hermione said.  
"You can't exactly see the files if you're lying down, Hermione. Then again, Harry is never lying down like he's supposed to. At any rate, Hermione and I looked at Parvati's file and we found out something you don't know. Whatever the thing was that Parvati got hit over the head with was poisoned."  
Ron and Harry asked at the same time, "Poisoned?"  
  
"Poisoned," Renata and Hermione repeated firmly.  
  
"Did it say anything about who got her?"  
"No."  
"Then I think we ought to pay a visit to Dobby."  
"I think you're right." They made their way down to the kitchen in search of Dobby. They got there only to find that Dobby wasn't there in the kitchen with the other elves. A group of four elves brought a tray of tea and muffins as Harry asked, "Where's Dobby?"  
One of the elves standing nearby stepped up. "Dobby has gone."  
  
"Gone? Gone where?" asked Hermione.  
"Dobby is with Professor Dumbledore, miss. Miss, Dobby has been gone since this morning. Dobby came back to us for a few minutes with Professor Dumbledore and Professor Dumbledore said, 'Dobby will help me today and will not return here for at least the rest of the day.' I don't know where they is, miss, only that they is not here."  
"Thank you. What's your name?"  
"Chip, sir. Just Chip."  
"Thanks, Chip." Harry and his friends left. "Now why would Dumbledore take Dobby?" Harry asked for the fifth time as they approached the portrait.  
For the fifth time he received the same answer. "He's got to have a reason, Harry. I'm sure it's got something to do with this morning." 


	9. Asking Questions and Getting the Third D...

No matter how hard he tried Harry couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something important as far as the morning's events were concerned. Still troubled by this when he put on his pajamas, Harry went to bed.  
  
In the morning Harry woke up, still feeling uneasy. The troubled feeling from the day before had settled in a tight knot in Harry's stomach and it refused to go away. Harry tried to explain it to his friends.  
"Something's wrong. I can feel it. I don't know what it is but we missed something yesterday."  
"What could we have possibly missed?"  
"That's just it, I don't know. But it's got to be something important."  
"Well, let's review. We don't know where Dumbledore is or what he's doing. We don't know where Dobby is other than the fact that he's with Dumbledore. We don't know why the exchange student candidates were chosen, only that they don't all meet the criteria. We don't know who attacked Parvati or why they attacked her, only that she was attacked. That about sums up our situation, doesn't it?" Hermione asked.  
"Yeah," Harry sighed.  
Renata spoke. "Well, all that's left then is to tie up the less ends. Am I right?" She didn't wait for a response. "We don't know where Dumbledore is, so we can't question him. We don't know where Dobby is, so we can't question him. We don't know anything the exchange students candidates had in common so there's no point in starting there. That leaves us one last thing to search: we know exactly where Parvati is and she won't be going anywhere."  
"We ask her!" Harry exclaimed.  
Renata and Hermione nodded.  
Unfortunately for their high hopes, Ron found the flaw in their logic. "Madam Pomfrey won't want us all up there disturbing her patient's rest."  
"Oh." Harry furrowed his brow in thought. "Hermione, you should go. Find out what you can from Parvati and see if you can get Madam Pomfrey to say anything."  
"All right, I will."  
Renata turned and punched Harry lightly in the arm, "See? Now you're thinking."  
Harry and the others waited in the library for Hermione to come back. Harry started pacing and muttering, "Where is she?"  
"Consider it this way, Harry: the longer she's there, the more she's finding out."  
"Or the harder it is to find out anything."  
When Hermione came in her face was flushed as if she'd run all the way from the hospital. In an excited whisper, Hermione began to tell them what she learned.  
"Parvati wasn't up for too much talking, getting rid of the poison hadn't been pleasant, anyway-"  
"I thought Madam Pomfrey cleared out the poison when she cleaned out the cut."  
Hermione gave Harry an annoyed look for interrupting her story. "She cleaned out the poison that was still in the cut then. Some of it had already gotten into Parvati's system so she had to take an elixir to help her regurgitate the poison."  
"Oh."  
"As I was saying Parvati was willing to answer a few questions for me. She didn't see who the attacker was."  
"That helps," muttered Ron sarcastically.  
Hermione flashed him an angry glare. "Ron, it was helpful. She was looking at him and couldn't see him."  
"What was she doing out at that hour?" asked Renata.  
"Will you people stop interrupting me?" Hermione covered her mouth as Madam Pince, the librarian, gave her a warning glance. Hermione lowered her voice. "She didn't know why she was there. One minute she's fast asleep and the next she's compelled to go outside the common room."  
"Imperious Curse, you think?"  
"No, she still had her own thoughts."  
Renata contemplated her answer for a moment, "Maybe.yes, I think.it was a Calling Charm. It had to have been." She looked worried as she said this.  
"What's the matter?" asked Harry.  
"Well," Renata's eyebrows knitted together and she spoke slowly. "A Calling Charm isn't that hard to begin with. You'd think it'd be even easier to do a Calling when someone is asleep because there are less thoughts to override; but it's not. I guess it takes more power because the mind isn't alert."  
"But you can do it," Harry said, confused and not seeing any point. Renata had used Calling Charms on them in their sleep more than once.  
  
"I know, but I'm always pretty drained and pretty tired afterward. I know, I never really look tired but that's because I can grin and laugh through just about anything. What worries me is that whoever attacked Parvati was able to wake her up and bring her out with the Calling Charm, he managed to hit her over the head, shave her hair, and get away, staying invisible the entire time. That tells you something."  
She seemed to have a point after all.  
  
The uneasy feeling stayed with Harry and seemed to have sunken to the very bottom of his stomach and it settled there through the week until Friday. At last, on Friday, Harry's mind was able to ignore it for something momentarily more pressing: Quiditch tryouts. He woke in a gloomy mood and barely poked at his breakfast.  
"What's wrong, Harry?" asked a cheerful voice.  
Harry looked up and stared across the table at Renata, who had just seated herself. "Quiditch tryouts today," he was mumbling, but Renata caught the mumbled words.  
"Harry, it will be a fine year. So we've got a lot of new recruits, big deal. There was a year when it was your first year on the time, don't forget that. You better be sure to cut these kids some slack. I'm warning you now."  
Harry looked at Renata and he could tell she meant every word she said.  
Renata gave him an easy-going smile and said with confidence, "The team will be great this year, you'll see. With a first-class Seeker-"  
"And a top-notch Keeper-"  
"As well as the rest of the team, it will be a great season. You'll need to make sure the Beaters aren't afraid to be hit-"  
"And we'll need to keep the Chasers working well together as a unit and we'll have the best team at the school," Harry said.  
"I know." She smiled again and soon Harry found himself not only smiling, but laughing and in better spirits than he'd been in for nearly two weeks.  
His spirits weren't dampened when he messed up in Transfiguration, or when he was chosen again as a test dummy again in Sirius's class or when they had to discuss the founding of the Ministry of Magic with Professor Binns. Throughout the day, Harry's mind was focused on Quiditch.  
Finally it was time for tryouts, Harry swung his Firebolt over his shoulder and reached the field a little early, though by no means was he the first there. Renata was already flying around the field doing laps. Ginny and her friend Claire were chatting and carrying brooms. Renata landed to talk with Harry as other various Gryffindors came onto the field.  
"What do you think of the group?" Renata asked.  
"We'll just have to wait and see how they do."  
Madam Hooch came on to the field then as well and began to bark curt instructions at them. Harry observed the others as they flew. Renata was as great as she had been the year before. Claire flew as well as she had when they had flown over the summer. Ginny was a better flyer than Harry had assumed she'd be. The Creevy brothers were out there as well. Colin and Dennis Creevy always got a thrill from shouting "Hiya, Harry!" and hearing him respond. They didn't miss the opportunity to greet Harry again and hear his response.  
"Hullo, Colin, Dennis."  
Although Colin and Dennis were enthusiastic as they tried out, they were little else. Colin's broom was at all times unsteady and he couldn't move very well on it. Dennis seemed to be getting along only slightly better than his brother. Harry looked to the others. There were a few Gryffindors that Harry didn't recognize. Harry was exhausted by the time the tryouts were done and he gratefully went back to Gryffindor Tower with the others.  
"Harry, do you know when they'll post the results?"  
"Sorry, Renata. I was hoping you could tell me."  
"That's okay. When it's posted, it's posted."  
Harry was too tired to take care of homework that night and decided to leave it for Saturday. He went up to the dormitory and dropped into a dreamless and untroubled sleep.  
  
The morning light shone in Harry's eyes; he tried to ignore it and go back to sleep but something wasn't right. Then he realized what it was: the sun shouldn't be in his eyes. He had closed the curtains around his bed before he fell asleep. Who had opened them? Harry sat up and put on his glasses.  
"What are you doing here?" he asked, wide-eyed.  
"Come on."  
"What if somebody sees you?" Harry looked around the room.  
"Harry, none of the other boys are in here," Renata laughed.  
"What are you doing here?" he asked incredulously.  
"Hermione sent me."  
"Why?"  
"Because I can be invisible if I need to, she can't."  
"Why didn't you send Ron?"  
She shuffled her feet slightly, "We don't know where he is."  
"What?"  
"I'm not going to repeat myself."  
"Where is he?"  
"That's better. If we knew that, do you think I'd be up here?"  
"I guess not."  
"Hurry up so I can leave. A door shouldn't look like it's opening by itself. I have to wait and leave when you do."  
Harry thought about it. It made sense then- "Wait a second. You can't leave when I do."  
"Why not?"  
"Because I have to get dressed," he said blushing slightly.  
"Oh, I forgot."  
"So turn invisible and get out already!"  
Harry watched as Renata put something in her mouth and could no longer be seen and he carefully made sure she was out of the room before he changed. Out on the landing outside the door he ran into Renata. "Watch it!"  
"I thought you were gone?"  
"No, I was waiting out here for you. See you in a few minutes." Renata walked down the stairs in front of Harry and from the best that Harry could tell she went over to the girls' staircase to turn herself visible. Harry, meanwhile found Hermione waiting.  
"Where's Renata?" she asked.  
"She went back to the girls' stairs."  
A moment later, fully visible, Renata joined them.  
Harry inquired, "So what's this business about Ron missing?"  
"It's exactly what you just said. Ron's missing."  
"Huh?"  
"We'll clarify for you then. You went upstairs. Five minutes later, Ron went upstairs. This morning when Seamus came down he asked if we knew where Ron was because he wasn't upstairs. That's it."  
"What time was this?"  
"Eight-ish."  
Renata asked, "Isn't it just possible he got up before us and is downstairs?"  
"Not likely," Harry told her. "He likes sleeping in late most of the time."  
"Don't you sleep-in a lot too?" asked Renata.  
"Only if I'm real tired or if I have nightmares," the words were out of Harry's mouth before he realized he was saying them. Harry saw Renata trying very hard to stifle laughter and Hermione try to suppress a smile.  
Finally it was too much for the girls and they dissolved into peals of laughter.  
Harry's face went as red as it could get and then he buried his face in his hands until the girls had regained control of themselves.  
Renata was having a harder time of it than Hermione. Hermione had just regained her composure and Renata was nearing it. Renata tugged weakly on Harry's sleeve, still laughing, asked, "What do you get nightmares about?"  
Harry took his head out of his hands and said in a quiet voice, "Voldemort, and my parents' murder."  
Instantly the laughing stopped. Hermione and Renata became sober.  
Renata said in a subdued voice, "I'm sorry. I didn't know."  
Hermione could only nod.  
After a few minutes Harry asked, "So what do you think happened to Ron?"  
As Hermione spoke there was fear in her voice, "We haven't got a clue."  
By lunch there was still no sign of him. They were just heading back upstairs to look for him again when Professor McGonagall caught up with them.  
"Here you are. I would like the three of you to follow me, please." They followed her up the stairs and through the corridors.  
Harry realized his fear was about to come true when he and the others reached the door of the hospital and Professor McGonagall brought them inside.  
Madam Pomfrey was standing inside.  
Harry had supposed she would object to their presence but instead she said, "Come this way." The three students and the professor followed the nurse to a bed with a curtain around it.  
Ron was there, lying and moaning softly. His head had a lump where he'd been hit in the head and there was a cut, though only half the size of Parvati's it was there. His head had been shaved in the same manner as Parvati's as well.  
Harry could hear Hermione choking back tears as he was doing. Harry glanced at Renata. She was silent but there was a tear running down her cheek.  
Madam Pomfrey closed the curtain again.  
Harry looked at the nurse but the words wouldn't come.  
Madam Pomfrey seemed to understand and replied gently to the unasked question, "I'm sorry, but no. I'll send someone to get the three of you as soon as he's well enough for visitors."  
Professor McGonagall led the students out and explained quietly, "I thought the three of you would want to know."  
Hermione seemed to have found her voice first. "Thank you," she whispered.  
Harry and Renata could only nod.  
Professor McGonagall left them near the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. They'd been seated together in the common room for ten silent minutes when a voice asked, "What's the matter?"  
Harry looked up and so did Hermione and Renata. Harry saw that the girls' eyes were red with tears; Harry suspected his own were at least a little pink, but he didn't care.  
Ginny repeated, "What's the matter?"  
Hermione muttered one word, "Ron."  
Ginny paled. "What?"  
"Attacked."  
Ginny rushed out, then, Harry supposed she was going to the hospital wing. He sighed and put his head in his hands. It was a while before any of them spoke.  
"He'll be okay, you know."  
Harry looked up.  
Parvati sat down between Hermione and Harry. "He'll be okay."  
"What? How do you know?"  
"I ran into Ginny in the hall. Ron will be okay. Madam Pomfrey will get rid of the poison, clear up the cut on his head, make the swelling go down, and he'll be right as rain before you know it. And the hair on his head will grow back too."  
Harry looked at her and only then realized that her hair was longer than it should have been in the time it had to grow since she'd been shaved. Harry hadn't noticed in class. He looked at her questioningly.  
"Mine? I used a potion to make it grow back faster. Don't worry; Ron will be back before you know it." Parvati smiled encouragingly at the three of them before leaving to look for Lavender.  
"She's right, you know." Renata stood up and put a determined look on her face. "Ron will get better, we'll just be without him for a few days. That's all."  
"You're right. In the mean time what can we do?"  
"I think we should work on the potion."  
"Do we have to start over? It's been more than a week."  
"No, I've been keeping an eye on it and I checked with Lupin. The potion had to brew for a week at soonest before it could be used, it could be longer. And I already added the hens' teeth from Lupin."  
"Then what are we waiting for?"  
Hermione went upstairs to get the paper with the instructions. Harry went for his cloak. Harry crept downstairs quietly. Hermione wasn't over by Renata yet so Harry whispered to Hermione, "Don't tell her I'm here yet."  
Hermione led Renata outside the portrait hole. Harry followed silently. As soon as they were around the corner Harry went right behind Renata. He suddenly put his hands on Renata's back to push her and he shouted, "BOO!"  
To his delight, Renata jumped and all but fell on her face.  
Her face turned red. "I'll get you for that, Harry!"  
"But you'll have to catch me first!" he started laughing. "And to catch me you'd have to find me!" He was laughing harder now and running. He gave one last shout, "And you'd have to see me to find me!" Harry was still laughing.  
As Harry was running, he heard Renata shout, "We know where he's going! Let's head him off!"  
Renata was right of course, but Harry didn't care. He went to Myrtle's bathroom. He'd managed to stop laughing, something laughing and invisible running through the halls isn't very inconspicuous.  
Unfortunately for him, Harry didn't get there first. Renata and Hermione did and though the bathroom appeared empty when Harry got there someone came up behind him and someone else came up in front of him. They gave a shout and pushed him. Harry nearly jumped out of his skin.  
Then they were all laughing.  
"Alright!" he laughed. "You got your revenge. Now can we get back to finding Hagrid?" asked Harry breathlessly.  
"Sure thing," Renata said. She was still red in the face from laughing too hard.  
Hermione took out the paper. "We take the potion and somebody's got to drink it and think about Hagrid and say his name five times after reading the spell. Any volunteers?"  
"I'll do it," Harry said.  
Hermione brought out a glass and she filled it to the rim. She passed it to Harry, "Here you go."  
Harry looked at the liquid. "It looks kinda chunky, he said frowning."  
"That's how it's supposed to look. Drink up. Here's the spell."  
Harry read the spell. He took a deep breath and he drank the liquid, it tasted gross. "Rubeus Hagrid. Rubeus Hagrid. Rubeus Hagrid. Rubeus Hagrid. Rubeus Hagrid." Harry couldn't see anything. It was like a bright light surrounding him. Then he saw a stone fortress. It appeared to be on an island of some sort. There were shrouded figures walking around with dark cloaks drawn over there heads. His mind zoomed into the building and through the halls there. Then he reached a cell there, apparently one of many.  
Hagrid lie sprawled on the floor. One of the figures was coming to the cell he opened the door. Harry felt a searing pain on his scar. He was sucked out of the vision and found himself back in the bathroom with Hermione and Renata. His scar hurt so bad that he sunk to his knees, clutching his forehead.  
Harry felt Hermione and Renata each grab one of his arms and pull him back to his feet. The pain passed.  
"I saw Hagrid!"  
"Where is he?"  
"I don't know.it had rocks. It was an island and the building was made out of rocks or something. Hagrid was in a cell. And the people.they were walking around in black cloaks."  
"I don't really know where that is."  
"We've got to see Lupin and Sirius. Let's go to Lupin first since he knew about the spell."  
"Good. Both of you get under the cloak." Harry held it out for them and the three of them became invisible. They went down to Hagrid's hut to see Lupin, but he wasn't the one who answered the door.  
"Sirius!"  
"Harry, where are you? I can't see you."  
"Here. We're under the cloak."  
Sirius herded them into the hut. Harry flipped off the cloak. "Hi."  
"What are the three of you doing sneaking out like this?" Sirius frowned.  
"We had to come see Professor Lupin."  
"He's here."  
Lupin asked, "Speaking of here, where's Ron?"  
"You didn't hear?" asked Harry.  
Sirius and Lupin shook their heads.  
The students sat the table with their Professors and briefed them on the day's events.  
"But we have good news, too," Hermione said. "Tell them, Harry."  
Harry told them about how the spell had worked.  
Sirius frowned deeply. "It sounds like Azkaban." Sirius had spent twelve years at the horrible wizarding prison for a crime he didn't commit. "But that can't be.Azkaban is missing."  
"What do you mean it's missing?"  
"How can it be missing?"  
"We don't know. It's just not there. We, the Order as well as the Ministry, know right where we left Azkaban and we can't find it." He saw the puzzled look on the students' faces. "Let me explain. Azkaban was built so that if necessary it could be moved. It takes a lot of wizards working together to move it and it's difficult. It hasn't been moved in fifteen or sixteen years. Now we can't find it."  
"This isn't good, is it?"  
"No, it's not. This is bad, this is very bad."  
"I've got to talk to Dumbledore. C'mon I'll bring the three of you back to Gryffindor Tower."  
"Sirius, we can go by ourselves. The professors won't see us."  
  
"Are you sure, Harry?"  
"Yes, besides, going to the tower is really out of your way." Harry, Hermione, and Renata got out of the hut and under the cloak before Sirius or Lupin could protest again.  
They whipped the cloak off just when they were around the corner from the portrait of the Fat Lady. They weren't alone in the corridor. Nick and Artemis were floating back and forward down the corridor, talking.  
There was no way to get past without their seeing (the students had to be visible in order to get the Fat Lady to let them in) so Harry and the girls took off the cloak and went forward anyway.  
"Harry? What are you doing out at this hour?"  
"Hi, Nick. We were talking to Si- I mean Professor Black and Professor Lupin."  
"Well, the three of you should get inside before a teacher comes. I wouldn't want you getting in trouble."  
"Thanks, Nick. What are you doing out here anyway?"  
"Professor Dumbledore asked us to keep an eye on the corridor tonight. Wouldn't want any more problems, right?"  
The students waved goodbye and went to the common room then up to their dorms.  
There was one more complication before Harry could go to sleep, or rather, there were three complications: his roommates.  
"Harry, what are you doing getting in so late?"  
"Er-"  
"We had to cover for you. McGonagall wanted to know where you were. And where Hermione and Renata were, Lavender and Parvati didn't know," Neville told him.  
"What did you tell her?" Harry asked uneasily.  
"We said you wanted to go to talk to Sirius. Where were you?"  
"Talking to Sirius."  
"Come off it, Harry. Just because we aren't Ron doesn't mean you can't tell us the truth. Where were you?"  
"Talking to Sirius!"  
They looked at him doubtfully.  
"If I wasn't with Sirius, why don't you tell me where I was?" Harry demanded.  
They didn't answer.  
"Well, come on! Where do you think I was; the girls' bathroom?"  
The other boys were looking uncomfortable and Seamus said, "You told us yourself you went in there."  
"I can't believe this! I went in that time because I thought Hermione was crying! I told you that. How I supposed to know it was just Moaning Myrtle?"  
"You like her?"  
"What?" Harry asked. "Myrtle? Oh, you mean Hermione?" He started blushing. "Hermione's my friend!"  
They still looked doubtful.  
"Guys, this is Hermione we're talking about. Miss Know-It-All, brainy Hermione. Hermione who-"  
"Who happens to trust you completely and who you trust. Hermione who you and Ron tell everything and always hang out with."  
"We're friends. That's all. Ron and Hermione are both my best friends."  
"What about Renata?"  
"What about her?"  
"You hang out with her all the time."  
"I'm not getting into this with the three of you."  
Dean muttered, "Yeah, you'll just talk to Hermione in the morning."  
Harry's face turned a little redder; he was planning to talk to Hermione in the morning. He pulled himself together. "Look," he said impatiently, "Hermione is just Hermione and as for Renata, she's just Renata. Did you know she pushed me today? She punches my arm, she teases me- "  
Seamus shrugged, "You're friends with her anyway."  
"Exactly! Friends." Harry put on his pajamas and climbed into bed ignoring the protests and muttering from his roommates.  
Harry woke up in a foul mood. He left his room as soon as he was dressed and met Renata and Hermione at the breakfast table. "Hey, did Parvati and Lavender start yelling at the two of you last night?"  
"Not really. When they asked where we were Hermione said we were talking to some professors." Renata splattered ketchup all over her eggs.  
"It was true enough," Hermione said defensively.  
"Why, what happened?" asked Renata.  
Harry sighed and told them, "As soon as I got in the three of them started asking questions. They said they had to cover for me when McGonagall was looking for me."  
"What did they tell her?"  
Harry smiled weakly, "They said I was talking to Sirius."  
Hermione and Renata started laughing.  
"I know. Then they asked where I was and they didn't believe me when I said I was talking to Sirius. They were sure I was in the girls' bathroom."  
"But, Harry, you were!"  
Harry realized with a shock that she was right and started laughing. When he stopped laughing he started talking again, "And then they stopped asking about where I was and started asking why I hang out with the two of you."  
Renata punched him teasingly. "So what did you say?"  
"I said you two were my friends and I wasn't about to get into it with them. They got mad and said that just because they weren't Ron didn't mean I couldn't tell them the truth. The three of them didn't believe a word I said all night." He poked at the bacon on his plate. "I bet Ron's okay now! That must have been why McGonagall was looking for us." The three of them abandoned their plates and went as fast as they could to the hospital wing.  
"Can we see, Ron?"  
"It's about time. He's been asking for you since last night."  
The three of them went over and crowded around Ron's bed. "Where were you? McGonagall said she was getting you last night."  
"Sorry, Ron, but you'll never guess who we found."  
"If I'll never guess it you might as well tell me."  
"Hagrid!"  
"He's back?"  
"No, but we sort of know where he is. We think he's at Azkaban but no one knows where Azkaban is right now."  
Hermione explained how Azkaban could be moved to a new location.  
Ron sat back to let the information sink in.  
"When do you get out of here?"  
"Maybe tomorrow. Madam Pomfrey said she'd give me something today to help make my hair grow back faster." He ran his hand along his bare head. "It's weird not having hair, you know? Cold too. I was wearing a hat last night when I got chilly."  
Madam Pomfrey came over, "It's time for the three of you to leave."  
"Five more minutes?" the four them begged.  
At last Madam Pomfrey gave in. "Five minutes."  
"Ron, did you see who attacked you? What happened?"  
"Trust me, you've heard this one. I was asleep and then something was saying, get up and come, come, and I didn't really have a choice in the matter. I got up and went just past the portrait. Then something I couldn't see got me. I got hit on the head with something and I was knocked out."  
The same as Parvati.  
"We're going to have a harder time sneaking out and sneaking in at night," Harry told him. "Ghosts guarding outside."  
"That's no good."  
"Yeah. Dumbledore must-"  
"Your five minutes are up. Out. Ron needs rest."  
Once outside the hospital, Hermione asked, "Dumbledore must what?"  
"Be worried. I'm sure of it." Harry chewed on his lip, thinking hard as they went back to the tower. "Hermione, I wish you hadn't backed out of the exchange student program."  
She looked startled, "But I don't want to go. Not when things are getting this bad at Hogwarts. Why do you say that?"  
"Because, then we'd know more about the exchange student business so we could figure out what it's all about. There's some sort of connection between all the people that were in that room and I want to know what it is."  
* * *  
Ron was let out of the hospital the next day and a week later the Quiditch teams were posted. Harry looked at the names for Gryffindor. The top of the page read: CAPTAIN, Harry Potter. Then were the positions, CHASER, Ginny Weasly, Dennis Creevy, Jeffery Brown; BEATER, Claire Orwell, Daphne Blankley; KEEPER, Renata Delano; SEEKER, Harry Potter.  
Harry didn't recognize all the names on the list. He'd never heard of Jeffery Brown but he supposed that he must be Lavender's brother; though Harry hadn't been aware she had a brother. Harry didn't even have a clue who Daphne Blankley was. Harry took out a quill and wrote on the bottom of the paper: FIRST PRACTICE THIS WEDNESDAY.  
Renata came up behind him. He turned around. "Hi. Did you look at the team?"  
"Yeah. Some of them are pretty young this year."  
"I know. Unless there's little league Quiditch or something, these kids haven't played on a team before this year." Harry shook his head.  
* * *  
Wednesday night, Harry got to the field early. Renata arrived just a few minutes after he did and they waited for the others to come.  
"How are we supposed to win if they can't even get to practice on time?"  
"Harry, relax. It's still ten minutes early."  
The rest of the players arrived before the ten minutes were over. Harry, pacing back and forward, began to talk. "I realized most of you haven't played on the team before but that's okay. If we work hard and do our best we'll have a great season. Go take a few warm up laps around the field."  
The players took off while Harry got out the crate of Quiditch balls. The team landed. "Okay, we're going to break up into two groups. Where are our Chasers and Keeper?"  
Renata smiled and Ginny, Dennis and Jeffery stepped forward.  
Harry spoke to the Chasers first. "It's really important that the three of you are able to work together. You've got to be able to communicate with each other and cooperate." Harry picked up the Quaffle. "The three of you are going to try and score as if this is a game. Renata will pretend to be the other team's Keeper and guard the hoop. Renata, you know what to do." Harry threw the Quaffle to Renata and turned to talk to Claire and Daphne. "The two of you are going to work with me." He gave them each a short bat. "You know what to do, just don't let the Bludgers hit anyone and try to keep them on that end of the field so we don't disturb the others."  
Claire and Daphne went into the air and Harry released the Bludgers. The Bludgers were black balls a little smaller than soccer balls and they whizzed through the air trying to knock players off their brooms. Harry released them from the crate and they shot into the air. Harry sped off on his broom, as the first Bludger rocketed toward him, Daphne smacked it out of the way. The second one came up from behind and Claire knocked it out of the way.  
Practice continued to progress with some problems. Ginny, Dennis, and Jeffery didn't communicate that well with each other. They didn't say when they were going to pass or anticipate well enough where the person receiving the Quaffle would be. They also quarreled with each other. Some of the shots were good, but none of them were able to get to the hoops behind Renata.  
Things weren't going so well for Harry and the Beaters either. Though Harry was saved from being hit several times there was also more than once by Bludgers. He called practice done early and when the balls were put in the crate and all the teammates except Renata were gone, he sat on the crate looking disappointed.  
"Scoot over."  
Harry moved over a few inches so Renata could sit down.  
"It's not that bad, Harry."  
"Yes it is," he said miserably.  
"No, not really. All they need is a little practice."  
Harry looked at her skeptically.  
"Alright, they need a lot of practice but give them a while and they'll be great. Really, I do see potential in them. Someone must have seen some potential in you at some point." She made as if to hit Harry teasingly in the arm.  
"No, Renata. I got hit by a Bludger there."  
"Okay." She patted him on the head. "Let's go inside. Hermione said she wanted to find out how practice went when we got back."  
"I'm staying here."  
"Harry, you can't stay out here all night. Get up. Here, help me with the crate." They locked it up in the broom shed.  
When they got to the common room Hermione asked, "How was practice?"  
"Dismal." Harry sank into a chair.  
Renata sat between him and Hermione. "Honestly, he's exaggerating by a long shot.  
"You didn't get pelted by Bludgers," muttered Harry.  
"Yeah, poor Harry," Renata teased. "Poor wittle Harry-warry got hit by Bludgers. Yes he did," she pinched his cheek in a way that matched the annoying baby voice she was using.  
Harry rolled his eyes. 


	10. Hogsmeade, to go or not to go?

Between keeping up with homework and Quiditch practice Harry hardly noticed when it neared the end of October.  
"Harry, did you notice they haven't posted a notice for the Hogsmeade weekend yet?"  
"What, Ron?"  
"The Hogsmeade trip. The first trip to the village is usually Halloween weekend. Halloween is just over a week away and they haven't said anything about a trip yet."  
The students that were third year and older could go to the nearby wizarding village of Hogsmeade on assigned days. The first day was usually around Halloween.  
"I dunno why they haven't said anything."  
"Think they won't let us go?"  
"I dunno."  
  
Three days later they received an answer to why there had been no word of a Hogsmeade visit.  
Dumbledore stood to make the announcement. "Many of you have been wondering why there has been no mention of a Hogsmeade trip yet. That is because for the time being, all Hogsmeade trips are postponed. There will be no Hogsmeade trips until further notice. It has been deemed by the mayor of Hogsmeade that conditions are too dangerous for the time being to allow you to go to the village. In place of the Halloween Hogsmeade trip we will be having a Halloween Social. We are having a school dance! And I have another announcement."  
Excited whispers broke out.  
"Quiet, please. It will take place a week from yesterday at eight o'clock and it will end at midnight. The other announcement is that our exchange students will arrive that day. After the dance our students who will be going abroad will leave." Dumbledore was beaming as he sat down.  
Ron turned to Harry with his mouth open in horror, "A dance."  
"Another one?" moaned Harry. He was getting sick of these things. "This is the third time Hogwarts has been in a dance in three years."  
"Students from those other schools are coming?" asked Renata.  
"Yes, from Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, Angel's Academy, and Salem Institute."  
"How do you know, Hermione?"  
"I was talking to Neville and the students going on the trip have been meeting with Dumbledore."  
"Which four are going?"  
"It's Justin Finch-Fletchly, Neville Longbottom, Kimberly Burke and Patrice that are going."  
"Patrice who?"  
"Clearwater. She's Penelope's sister."  
"Do you know which school each of them is going to?"  
"Justin is going to the Salem Institute. Neville is going to Renata's old school. Patrice is going to Beauxbatons, and Millicent is going to Durmstrang."  
"Do you know the names of the students coming here?"  
"Sorry, I don't know. So Hogwarts is having a dance."  
"I can't believe we have to go to another one," Ron said in disgust.  
Hermione said irritably, "If you don't want to go I don't think you have to. No one will force you. You could mope in the common room while the rest of us enjoy ourselves."  
Harry looked at the girls sheepishly, "I don't think I'm going either."  
"Why not?"  
"I don't dance."  
"Harry, you danced just fine last year," Renata told him.  
Harry waved his hand dismissively. "It's just too much work."  
Renata folded her arms. "Explain."  
"Dancing."  
"I already told you, you dance fine."  
"Getting ready."  
Renata laughed. "You could wear whatever you were wearing earlier that day and as for your hair, you never do anything to it anyway."  
"Plus," he said uncomfortably, "there's also the trouble of finding a date."  
Renata shrugged. "It's not that hard to get a date for a dance. Besides, what wrong with going solo? It's not as if you want to dance anyway."  
"It's harder than you say!"  
"Harry, what's so difficult about it?"  
Harry mumbled something. Unfortunately Renata caught his words.  
"Asking someone isn't that bad," she told him.  
Ron stared at Renata, "What if she's already got a date? Or worse! What if she doesn't have one but just doesn't want to go with you?" he looked horrified at the idea of it.  
"So? Then you ask someone else. Observe: Harry, would you like to go to the Halloween dance with me?"  
Harry answered without thinking. "Okay."  
"Great. See? Now, was that so bad? Talk to you later. Bye." Renata left the breakfast table.  
Ron turned to Harry, "I think you just got a date for the dance you don't plan to go to!"  
"What?"  
"I think he's right, Harry," Hermione told him.  
Harry was stunned. But that wasn't the only surprise. Harry came back into the common room late that night after trying to get Sirius to tell him about the students coming. Ron and Renata were the only two left in the common room. Their backs were toward Harry so they didn't know he was there.  
"Ron, why don't you just ask her?"  
"Are you crazy?"  
"What's wrong with her? She's nice, she's pretty, and you're friends. Why don't you ask her?"  
"It's not that easy."  
"Just ask her. I'm sure she'll say yes."  
"But what if she doesn't?"  
"You won't know unless you ask. Want me to ask her for you?"  
"NO!"  
"Then I think you had better ask her."  
Harry sneezed and Renata turned her head.  
"Hi, Harry. We were just waiting up for you. I'm going to bed. See the two of you in the morning. Ron, don't forget what I said."  
Harry almost asked who they'd been talking about but he thought better of it and silently followed Ron upstairs.  
Over the next few days the halls buzzed with talk of the dance. Ginny seemed to try to talk to Harry several times the next day. She was trying to talk to Harry but she never got around to whatever she planned to say. The day after, Ginny came to talk to Harry on his way to breakfast.  
"Harry, w-will you.Harry, d-do you want to go to the dance with me?"  
Harry didn't know what to say except, "Sorry, Ginny, I'm going with someone."  
"Oh. Who?"  
"Renata."  
"Oh. Okay."  
When Seamus and Dean found out Harry was going to the dance with Renata they wouldn't let him live it down. It was even worse that they knew Ginny had asked him and he'd said no.  
"So, I heard Ron's sister asked you to the dance," Seamus remarked.  
Dean asked, "Did you say yes, Harry?"  
"No," he answered simply.  
"Why not?"  
"Because I've already got a date for the dance." His face began to turn red.  
"Who?"  
"With Renata," he mumbled.  
"I knew it! You like her. You like her."  
"I never said that. She asked me to the dance and I just said yes."  
"You're lucky though."  
"Why?"  
"Come on, it's Renata. The girl likes talking about Quiditch and she's pretty. Really good-looking. Didn't you ever notice that?"  
"Not really." Of course Harry had noticed that Renata liked Quiditch, but as to whether or not she was pretty, Harry had never really considered the matter. They were friends and he left it like that, he didn't want to start thinking of her any other way.  
As Halloween drew nearer the incessant hum of girls discussing their dresses and hair grew ever more powerful. Harry and Ron glanced at Renata across the lunch table. Parvati and Lavender were sitting nearby and were busily discussing how they would style their hair and what sort of dress robes they would wear.  
Ron asked, "Renata, you don't seem to be too interested in the dance."  
"Sure I am. I went through all the trouble of getting a date, didn't I? Why do you say that?"  
"All the other girls are talking about their hair and junk. You're not."  
"Why should I be?"  
"The other girls are."  
"Am I the other girls? I don't think so. But if you're so curious, I'll tell you. I'm dressing more on the casual side, I hate uncomfortable outfits. I'll do something to my hair but I'm not going waste hours on it, nor will I do anything to it that will give me a headache. Does that answer your question?"  
"No."  
"Too bad." She wouldn't say more on the subject, no matter how much Ron pestered her.  
  
The day before the dance Harry asked Ron, "So, are you going to the dance?"  
"Probably not." He shrugged. "I didn't ask anyone. I don't like dancing that much."  
Renata said casually enough, "Well you could always ask a friend. I know Hermione doesn't have a date yet either. Although I did hear she got a few offers. Just a thought."  
Ron shrugged again.  
That night Harry had Quiditch practice. When, exhausted, he and the others got to the common room Renata noticed something. She nudged Harry and nodded over to two particular chairs. Harry followed her gaze.  
Odd, thought Harry, Ron usually doesn't look so nervous when he talks to Hermione; he never looks nervous talking to her. Harry turned his gaze back to Renata. She wasn't where she'd been a moment ago. She was much nearer to the chairs where Ron and Hermione were. Harry shrugged and as he came near Harry looked for Renata again. She wasn't where she'd just been a few seconds ago. Harry didn't see her immediately. Harry shrugged and as he came still nearer to the chairs until he could here what was being said.  
"Ron, I'm sorry but I don't know if I can go to the dance with you."  
"Why? Y-you're going with someone else. Renata said you didn't have a date," Ron muttered.  
"I don't have a date. Yet."  
"Then why can't you go with me?"  
"Because, I have to know. Do you really want to go with me to the dance or do you only want to go with me because it's the night before the dance and you don't have a date yet, Ron?" Hermione looked Ron in the eye waiting for an answer.  
Harry watched Ron turn red and he found another direction in which to look. Unfortunately for Harry, it was his direction.  
"Harry!"  
Hermione's eyes flashed angrily. "You were eavesdropping on us!"  
"No, I-"  
"Harry, if we'd wanted you in the conversation we would have included you." With another angry glare Hermione left.  
After a few seconds of muttering Ron left too.  
Harry saw Renata sitting casually, leaning against the back of the chair where Ron had been sitting. Harry sat down on the ground next to her.  
"Why did they yell at me and not you?"  
"Harry, Harry, Harry, do you know nothing? A good spy is never caught. They couldn't see me sitting here. She wants to say yes, you know."  
  
"Huh?"  
"How dense are you, Harry?" She grinned at him. "Don't answer that. If you haven't figured it out, then, I am not going to waste my time telling you." 


	11. Party Crashers

At breakfast the next day Harry saw the Great Hall decorated with its usual Halloween splendor.  
There were large, carved pumpkins along the walls. Harry noticed they were a little smaller than most of the previous years. Then he realized, Hagrid hadn't been around to take of the pumpkins as he usually was. But they were there nonetheless and so were the live bats fluttering over the tables as well as some other decorations.  
At Charms, Harry was listening as Professor Flitwick explained for at least the third time that day, how to do a Mute Charm.  
"Class! Keep your wrist firm and bring your wands down through the air. The word to say is Silencio! Don't forget to enunciate."  
Professor Flitwick turned on a little radio on his desk; this was harder than it sounds because Professor Flitwick was short that he had to stand on a pile of books just to see over his desk.  
Harry frowned at the radio. He had tried the spell twice and he could still hear everything. Harry tried again.  
On his way to lunch Ron said, "I can't believe that creature Lupin showed us scratched me. It looked so harmless."  
Harry grimaced, "It sure wasn't. It bit me."  
"Well you can't always judge people, things, or animals by how they look," Hermione said in a matter-of-fact tone.  
After lunch they a dull History of Magic class with the ghost of Professor Binns.  
  
Around 7 o'clock Harry, Ron, and the other boys in the dormitory started getting ready. By seven thirty Harry and Ron were in the common room waiting with others who were done getting ready.  
Harry smoothed out a wrinkle in his green robe and asked hesitatingly, "So, are you going with Hermione?"  
Ron turned scarlet and nodded.  
About ten minutes later, Harry received a nudge in the ribs from Ron. Ron nodded at the girls' staircase.  
Coming down the steps were Hermione and Renata. But they didn't exactly look like Hermione and Renata.  
Hermione was wearing a sky-blue robe with a darker blue trim. She was smiling and her hair was done nicely. Her hair had been gathered back and then it was clipped to the back of her head with the ends of it flipped back. She looked taller too.  
Harry saw Renata and involuntarily his jaw dropped slightly.  
Renata's robe (though it seemed more like a dress) was black on the top and the bottom had large, vertical bars of orange and black. It was about mid-calf, rather than down to her ankles and Harry saw that her shoes were smart looking pumps with an inch or so heels. Her hair framed her face. It seemed almost gold in the light and it had been curled. The hair in front, on both sides, had been put up into some sort of braid and pulled to the back with the rest curled and hanging loose. Renata was grinning broadly. She came up to Harry, "Close your mouth, it's not polite." She pushed Harry's chin, making the jaw snap shut.  
Harry blushed.  
Ron mumbled to Hermione, "You look nice."  
"Thank you," Hermione said.  
Harry looked at Renata and nodded, he couldn't speak. She seemed to get the idea. "You don't look so bad yourself. Come on. Everyone is leaving."  
They joined those thronging the corridor and Hermione remarked, "I wonder."  
"About what?"  
"The exchange students were supposed to come today."  
Dean came over. "Hi. Have any of you seen Neville?"  
"No. Not since Professor Binns's class."  
"Thanks anyway." Dean disappeared back into the crowd.  
When they entered the Great Hall, Harry was impressed. There were even more decorations than there had been that morning. A stage had been set-up and there were some wizards on it with what looked like electric guitars but different.  
The long, house tables had vanished and had been replaced with small circular tables near the walls. The band struck an upbeat rhythm and began to play. From a room that was a sort of annex from the Great Hall came ten figures. Harry recognized Neville, Justin, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and a few others. The music quieted.  
The ten of them broke off into five pairs. Dumbledore, standing with McGonagall, announced in a loud and clear voice, "Welcome to the Halloween Dance! Allow me to introduce the students leaving Hogwarts and those arriving. Neville Longbottom of the Gryffindor House will be going to the Angels Magical Academy." There were applause. "Justin Finch-Fletchley of the Hufflepuff House will be going to the Salem Institute." There was more applause. "Millicent Bulstrode of the Slytherin House will be going to the Durmstrang Institute." The applause came again. "Patricia Clearwater will be going to Beauxbatons Magical Acadamy." The applause sounded again. "Our visitors are Anthony Bordeaux from Beauxbatons, Kevin Mone from Salem, Aurora Daria from Angels, and Gwendelan Anderson from Durmstrang." The applause was tremendous. Dumbledore proclaimed, "Let the dance begin!" Dumbledore, McGonagall, and the other four pairs began to dance as the band started again.  
The five pairs danced and were soon joined by other couples. Harry saw Neville's face was really red, as red as the hair of the girl he was dancing with. Harry, Renata, Ron, and Hermione found a table and sat down. When the song had ended two of the original dancing figures came to see them.  
"Ren?"  
Renata looked up, slightly surprised at hearing her old nickname.  
"Ren!"  
"Rory!" Renata sprang out of her seat, nearly knocking it over, and ran over to the girl coming toward her. "What are you doing here?"  
"I plan to stick around for a few months. Weren't you listening?"  
"Sit down. Sit down. Come on, Neville. You sit too." Now there were six at the table.  
Renata and Rory chatted, catching up on news. Renata and Rory went to school together at the Angel's Academy before Renata transferred to Hogwarts the previous year. "So tell me everything."  
After talking very fast for about fifteen minutes. Rory asked, "So, Ron, where are those delightful brothers of yours?"  
"Graduated. You're a year too late."  
Rory seemed unperturbed, "Harry, in Ren's letter she said you guys would have a rebuilding year for the team. How's it going?"  
Harry sighed. "The Quiditch team needs help."  
"If you're nice I may help." Rory chuckled. "Oh! I like this song. Somebody dance with me?" Her eyes turned to Neville. "Please?"  
Neville muttered something and they stood up.  
Renata cocked her head as if listening, "Come on, Harry. This is a really good song. I know this one."  
"No, thanks."  
"Harry," she stared at him. "Get up." Renata took his hand and hauled him out of the chair and over to the dance floor. Ron and Hermione, Ron blushing furiously, came over too.  
"So you know this song, Renata?"  
"Yeah. The band is great."  
"What's the band called?"  
"The Flying Toadstools. See the lead singer? That's Amadeus. That one there is Eric. The one standing in the back is Sammy. I don't quite recall the names of the other two."  
Harry nodded dumbly.  
"Why don't any of you call me 'Ren'?"  
"I don't know. You were introduced to me and the others as Renata and not Ren so we got used to saying Renata." He glanced sideways. "You're glad Rory is here, aren't you?"  
"I missed her. I miss Dan, Joe, and everyone. I miss my old life. It's not here. It's there. In California."  
"Would you go back? Go there instead of Hogwarts again?"  
"I don't know." There was a few moments silence and then Renata said, "The song's ending. Let's sit down."  
Back at the table there was an envelope with Harry's name on it. The writing was familiar.  
Harry pocketed the note and asked someone nearby, "Hey, did you see anyone come put anything down on this table?"  
The boy, probably a third year, shook his head. "Thanks anyway." He went back to the table. Harry opened the envelope after a furtive glance to make sure no one was watching. Harry took out the letter and began to read it.  
  
POTTER, YOU'RE DEAD. YOU WON'T GET TO HAGRID AND YOU ARE DEAD. HA HA  
HA. NICE GIRLFRIED. SHE CAN BE DEAD TOO. THAT MUGGLE-LOVER AND THAT  
MUDBLOOD ARE GOING TO DIE TOO. JUST YOU WAIT. I"LL DISPOSE OF THEM  
MYSELF. YOU WON'T FIND OUT WHO I AM. YOU'RE A COWARD AND YOU ARE GOING  
TO DIE.  
  
"This is just great," he muttered sarcastically.  
"What is it? Let me read it."  
"No."  
"Harry, just let me read it."  
"NO!" He held the letter as far from her as he could.  
"Fine, Harry. Fine, okay." Then she stood quickly and snatched the letter. She smiled smugly but her face paled as she read the letter. "This is serious, Harry."  
"I'm sure it's just an empty threat."  
"You don't really think so."  
Harry didn't reply. How could she know that he thought that?  
"Let's go get Ron and Hermione."  
"N-no." Harry looked over and saw Hermione and Ron. They were talking and they looked pretty happy. "No. I don't think we have to tell them."  
"Harry, this is the same writing as the other two times."  
"I know."  
Renata studied his face silently for a minute. "You don't want to say anything to Dumbledore, or Sirius, or my uncle, or any teachers, or anyone else. Do you?"  
He shook his head.  
Renata looked at Ron and Hermione. "Harry, if something happens to either of them it's going to be on our heads if we don't tell someone about this letter."  
Harry gritted his teeth, "But what are the teachers going to do? Are they going to analyze the handwriting of every student here? Even then, how are they supposed to find out anything? What if it's not a student? What if someone is sneaking into the school? It just isn't going to do any good!" he banged his fist on the table. "Quiet, Harry."  
"No. Whoever is threatening my friends is going to pay."  
"Quiet!" she hissed.  
"Why?"  
"Because Malfoy is standing behind you. What do you want, Malfoy?"  
"To make your life miserable."  
"The fact that you even exist, already proves that, but why are you here now?"  
"I want to talk to Potter."  
"I'm not talking to you, Malfoy."  
"Fine. Just thought you ought to know Dumbledore wants to talk to you. You're in trouble." Draco Malfoy smirked and left.  
  
"I told you, you should have kept quiet, Harry. I'm sure Dumbledore saw that little tantrum of yours just now. Go talk to Dumbledore."  
"What?"  
"Why do you always make me repeat myself? I don't think Malfoy was lying about Dumbledore wanting to talk to you. Look, Dumbledore is looking this way, right at you."  
Harry saw Dumbledore was looking in their direction. "Alright," he muttered. Harry got up and went to the table where Dumbledore was sitting talking to a Prefect and to Sirius. "Ah, Harry. You received my message to see me."  
"Yes, sir."  
"Good." Dumbledore grabbed the arm of a boy who was passing. "Anthony, stay here a moment please."  
The boy paused and looked at Harry.  
Harry got a good look at him and saw his hair was dark brown, his face had an angular quality to it, and he was about two inches taller than Harry.  
"Harry, Anthony here will be staying in your dorm this year seeing as your room now has an empty bed. Would you mind showing him around tomorrow?" "Sure." So he wasn't in trouble.  
"Thank you. You'll be excused from your classes for the day" Dumbledore turned his conversation back to Sirius.  
Harry went back to the table where Renata, Ron, and Hermione were sitting. Halfway there, Harry realized he was being followed. "Did you want something?"  
"I want to talk to that girl over there," he said quietly to Harry. He continued past Harry and asked Hermione, "Is it alright if I sit down.  
"Okay," Hermione replied him.  
"Thank you." Anthony smiled charmingly at Hermione.  
Ron scowled at Anthony but Anthony appeared not to notice.  
Harry suddenly realized he was quite hungry; he hadn't eaten since lunch. He used this as an excuse to change the subject. "I'm hungry. Is anyone else?" Harry picked up a menu that had been lying in wait on the table. He glanced at it and said, "Chicken." The plate that had been waiting in front of him filled with mashed potatoes, green beans, and a generous portion of roast chicken.  
The others at the table did the same.  
Conversation stayed at a minimum as they ate. Eventually they were done and they pushed their plates to the center of the table where the remaining food on them disappeared.  
"What do you think of Hogwarts so far?" asked Renata.  
"Very nice here. But it's different from the Beauxbatons Palace."  
"You're just not used to it yet," grinned Renata.  
"Are you here for the exchange program too? I didn't see you earlier."  
"No, I transferred here from the Angel's Academy last year. Don't worry you'll get used to it here. How long are the four of you staying?"  
"We leave in June. After the final exams."  
"The exams here are awful," Ron said.  
"They aren't that bad," Hermione scolded. "I find them rather invigorating. Oh this song sounds nice." Hermione looked at Ron.  
"I don't want to dance," he answered dully.  
"I do," volunteered Anthony. "If you don't mind?" Anthony turned to Ron.  
Ron's face turned beet red.  
Hermione answered for him. "He doesn't mind."  
Ron glowered as the two of the walked off. He muttered something to Renata (his face even brighter red) and they went on the dance floor.  
Harry watched gloomily. He watched as Ron kept glancing at Hermione. Hermione wasn't paying attention though. She appeared to be having a great time and was oblivious to the glaring face of Ron a few yards away. Harry sat at the table by himself. Neville came over at one point to say goodbye to Harry.  
"Are you leaving in the morning?"  
"No, I'm leaving tonight."  
"Tonight?"  
"Yeah. The bags of the four of us leaving were already brought to the schools and we met with the headmasters, er, in my case it was the headmistress. As soon as the dance is over we leave."  
"How are you getting there?"  
"Floo Powder. That room we came out of has a fireplace."  
Harry nodded. Wizards could travel by fire using a green powder known as Floo Powder.  
After Neville wandered off to say his goodbyes to Seamus and Dean another person visited the table. "Hi, Harry."  
"Hello, Ginny." Harry indicated a chair and Ginny sat down.  
"What happened to everyone else at the table?"  
"Neville is talking to some people. I don't know where Rory is. Ron, Renata, Hermione and the other guy are dancing."  
"Oh."  
Ginny's friend Claire appeared. "Hello, Ginny, Harry. Ginny, Colin wants to talk to you."  
"Really?"  
"Uh-huh. He's over here." The other girl led Ginny away to the far side of the room.  
Harry waited another few minutes before Ron and Renata reappeared. Ron's scowl was still plastered on his face and he looked sullen. Renata looked as casual as ever, though she appeared slightly miffed. "Ron, I still wanted to dance."  
"I'm tired," muttered Ron.  
"Fine. Come with me, Harry."  
"But I don't want to-"  
"I don't care. This is a good band, a good song, and I don't want to sit down and do nothing all night. Let's go dance."  
Harry reluctantly followed Renata.  
"I wanted to talk to you," she said. Renata placed her hands on his shoulders; it was a slow song, quiet and perfect for talking.  
"What about?" Harry asked.  
"That letter, you should talk to Dumbledore. People's lives are being threatened. Your life is being threatened."  
"I don't care about my life being threatened. I can take care of myself."  
"Your friends' lives were threatened. I know you care about Ron and Hermione. I don't want to see them hurt. And I know you don't want to see them hurt either." "The teachers won't be able to help, even if they knew who was responsible."  
"I wonder." Renata murmured.  
"What?"  
"You don't want me to say anything to Dumbledore or any of the teachers here, do you? Or to Ron or Hermione?"  
"No, I don't."  
"Okay. I won't. I promise."  
Harry sighed. Renata tended to keep promises so in all likelihood she wouldn't say anything about the letter; but Harry didn't like the tone in her voice. He got worried whenever she started agreeing with him.  
After a brief silence Renata said, "Did you notice the look on Ron's face when that boy asked Hermione to dance? Look at him, he's still sour."  
Harry looked back at Ron sitting at the table alone. He didn't look too happy about it.  
"Hermione seems happy enough," Harry said, averting his eyes form his sullen looking friend.  
"Of course she is. She's getting the attention deserves that she doesn't usually get from the two of you. Don't look so confused, Harry. Ron and you have been friends with Hermione for six years now. But you two still leave her out of things, you ask her for homework help without ever offering any help back, really, Harry. And on top of that it's not really like Hermione has that many other friends to hang out with when the two of you get in a fight with her. The fights are usually your fault."  
"What?"  
"I mean every word I say, Harry. When Hermione is just looking out for either of you, you both gang up on her and don't speak to her and then she gets so upset and she cries and she's lonely. It's not fair for her, you know. She is just looking out for you. She cares a lot. Hermione doesn't want either of you hurt."  
"Give me one example of a fight that was either my fault or Ron's that was between us and Hermione."  
"Your third year," she answered smugly and quickly. She smiled as she continued. "You got a Firebolt for Christmas, you didn't know who sent it, and you and Ron were ready to jump on it and fly without even checking to see if it was jinxed, hexed, or cursed, just because it was a Firebolt. She did do the right thing, going to McGonagall and telling her about it."  
"How did you know?"  
"I know most everything, Harry. It always seems to be the boys' fault doesn't it?"  
"How do you mean?"  
"Think about it. Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin didn't get along well but have you ever heard any problems between Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff? I don't think so."  
When the song was over, Harry and Renata went back to the table where Ron was sitting and talked to him for a while.  
Hermione came over a little later. Breathless from dancing for so long. "How are you all doing?"  
Anthony was with her and Ron scowled again.  
"Not bad," Harry replied mildly. "So-er-"  
"Anthony," the boy said, shaking hands.  
"Right, Anthony, so when the dance is over you'll come with us up to the tower and then tomorrow I'll show you around the school."  
"That sounds like a good idea, I wouldn't want to get lost trying to get to class."  
"But we have classes tomorrow. How can you show him around?" interrupted Hermione.  
"Your Headmaster said that he chose a student to guide each of the exchange students around for the day and so neither of us will have classes. What are your names again?" Anthony asked.  
"I'm Hermione."  
"I remember that," he smiled.  
"That's Ron, Harry, and Renata."  
"And I'm Rory." Rory came back to the table and seated herself.  
"Which House are you staying with, Rory?"  
"Um.Slytherin. With the seventh year Slytherin girls."  
"You're stuck in Slytherin?"  
"Aren't you going to ask Dumbledore to switch you?"  
"No, I'll tough it out there. They can't be that bad."  
"You don't know the Slytherins."  
"I'll be fine, Ren. Don't worry about me."  
Ron sulked throughout most of the night. Harry noticed that Hermione seemed to be having a fairly good time. He noticed Renata wasn't faring too bad either. If a song she liked started to play she dragged one of the guys at the table (usually Harry) up to the dance floor. Other than that she was content to talk. Rory was the same.  
At last, the last song of the night was announced. Renata took Harry from his conversation with Ron. "Last song, we're not missing this." She whispered something quickly to Rory before bringing Harry to the dance floor.  
Harry glanced back. Rory got up with Anthony to dance and Ron got up with Hermione.  
Renata saw where Harry was looking, "I couldn't let Ron miss the last dance with Hermione."  
"So you asked Rory to talk to Anthony."  
Renata nodded. Eventually she asked, "So what do you think of tonight? Was the dance as terrible as you thought it would be? Terrible enough that you would have rather not come?"  
"No," he admitted.  
"Good." Renata smiled a genuine, glad smile.  
"I'm glad I came."  
"Me too. But-"  
"What's the matter?" asked Harry.  
"The song is over. Listen, the music stopped."  
Harry looked and saw the dance floor was clearing. He checked his watch, midnight on the nose. "I guess we should get going."  
Harry, Renata, Ron, Hermione, and Anthony went up the stairs that led in the direction of the Gryffindor Tower. Rory said goodbye and followed the departing Slytherins. Harry glanced back and saw Neville and three others follow Dumbledore into the room annexed from the Great Hall.  
Harry and his friends continued to Gryffindor Tower with the other Gryffindors. Harry pointed out to Anthony which staircase to go up and told him that the door would say SIXTH YEARS. Hermione disappeared up the girls' staircase and Ron went up the boys' staircase. Students continued to go up both staircases.  
"Goodnight, Harry."  
"Night, Renata." He didn't move to follow the boys retreating to the dorm.  
"Go upstairs now, you look tired."  
"Why?"  
"Because, it's late and even if you don't have to go to class tomorrow you still have to show that other boy around the school. And even if you aren't tired, I am."  
She had a point about tomorrow, but she didn't look tired.  
"Goodnight." Without another word, Renata climbed the stairs and left.  
Harry stood there wishing he'd come up with something better say. Harry shook his head. Yawning and suddenly realizing how tired he actually was, he went to his dorm, changed into his pajamas, and fell soundly asleep. 


	12. Dining with Dumbledore

Harry woke up and stretched out his arms, yawning. His immediate thought was What day is it? Wednesday.I am not going to be Sirius's test dummy for jinxes again. It's somebody else's turn. Then Harry remembered that he didn't have to go to class.  
He would be touring that Anthony kid around. He was still asleep in Neville's bed. Of course Neville wouldn't use it for several months so it was Anthony's in the mean time.  
When Harry looked through his curtains and saw that Anthony Ron, Seamus, and Dean left Harry said goodbye to them. Anthony still wasn't awake.  
Finally Harry went over and told him to wake up. He was a heavy sleeper and had to be told several times and in a loud voice. When he was finally roused Harry waited impatiently for him to get dressed.  
"Come on, we're going to stop and have breakfast before I show you the classes. We're already late."  
"Okay, I'm ready," he said as he put a final touch of gel in his hair.  
Harry led him down to the Great Hall where the last of the students were finishing their breakfast before class. When they were done eating, Harry led Anthony up to the room where Defense Against the Dark Arts was. He knocked on the door before going in. When he opened it he saw Sirius using Ron as an example for the Jelly-Legs Curse. Ron's legs, now wobbling beneath him were not supporting him and the class laughed as Ron clutched Sirius's desk for support.  
As Sirius performed the counter-curse he looked up and saw Harry.  
"Si-"  
Sirius gave him a meaningful stare.  
"Professor Black, this is Anthony Bordeaux. He'll be joining all the classes starting tomorrow."  
"It's nice to meet you, Anthony. Harry, stop by my office later to find out your homework assignment and the work you're missing. Now class."  
Harry and Anthony left.  
"What did you start to say back there?"  
"Huh? Oh. I was calling him by his first name."  
"You're allowed to do that? We never call the teachers by their first names. It's disrespectful."  
"No, we don't either. It's just, he's my godfather so I'm not quite used to calling him Professor Black yet. What classroom do you want to see next?"  
"Potions."  
"You're not going to like this. It's down in the dungeon, but come on." Harry led Anthony down to the potions classroom and knock on the door. He did not open the door but waited until Snape came out and opened it.  
"Potter! What do you want?" he barked.  
"Professor Snape, this is Anthony Bordeaux. He is going to be joining our class this year."  
"Nice to know," he sneered. "Now get out, Potter! I have a class to teach!" Snape slammed the door.  
"He's not very friendly, is he?"  
"No. I didn't expect him to be. I'll take you to Transfiguration."  
"Why was there a ghost in there with the students?"  
"That must have been the Gryffindor first years. One of them is a ghost but she wants to take classes anyway."  
"Who teaches Transfiguration?"  
"Professor McGongall. She's fair alright, but she's strict. She's the Head of the Gryffindor House and she is the Deputy Headmistress if for some reason Dumbledore is ever gone." After being shown the Transfiguration room (second year Slytherins were there) Harry showed Anthony the Hospital Wing.  
"Why don't we go inside?"  
"I really rather wouldn't."  
"Why not?"  
"I've been there a number of times. Besides, our class should be in Herbology by now. We have double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. Let's go out on the grounds to see the greenhouses. Professor Sprout teaches Herbology there."  
"What's he like?"  
"She. Professor Sprout is Head of the Hufflepuff House. Here are the greenhouses. Looks like they're in Greenhouse 2. Come on in." Harry opened the door and heard the sound of hedge clippers. "Sounds like they're pruning the cat blossoms. Can't you hear the hissing?" The cat blossoms did not like to be handled.  
After Anthony was introduced to Professor Sprout, the two of them went across the grounds to Hagrid's hut.  
"Hagrid? Don't you have to call him professor?"  
"No. But he's not here now. Professor Lupin is filling in for him."  
"Who's he?"  
"Lupin taught Defense Against the Dark Arts in our third year. He's Renata's uncle."  
"Renata?"  
"The blonde girl at the dance last night, she sat at our table."  
"Who?"  
"The one I danced with."  
"Oh. Her," he said with disinterest.  
"Yeah, her mum taught Defense Against the Dark Arts last year. That's why she transferred here." "Where's her mum now?"  
"Teaching at Durmstrang."  
"Why didn't Renata go with her?"  
"She didn't want to have to transfer schools again. I don't think Lupin's got a class right now so we can talk to him." Harry knocked on the door. Fang came rushing out barking. He nearly knocked Harry over in his excitement. He was licking his face exuberantly. "Easy!" Harry patted Fang on the head until Lupin came out.  
"Harry, how are you? Shouldn't you be in class?"  
"No, Professor. I've got the day off to show Anthony around the school."  
"That's good. Nice to meet you, Anthony."  
Anthony was backing up slightly as Fang came nearer to him.  
"Fang! Come here. Fang, back off," commanded Lupin.  
"Get over here, Fang," Harry ordered. The boarhound did come to stand between Harry and Lupin. "Let's go see the Quiditch field. I'll talk to you later, Professor."  
"All right, Harry. Stay out of trouble."  
After the Quiditch field Harry brought Anthony back inside for a quick stop in the library, then they went down to the Great Hall for lunch.  
  
"Hey, Ron."  
"Hi."  
"You look tired, did you sleep okay?"  
"Yeah, just fine." He rubbed his leg.  
"Oh, the jelly-legs curse. Still weird even after the counter-curse."  
  
"I know how that is. Remember that first lesson when Sirius used the Leg-Locker curse on me? My legs were stiff all day."  
"I wish Sirius didn't have to test the curses in order to show us the counter-curses and blocks."  
"I thought you weren't supposed to call him by his first name?"  
"Most people aren't. And we aren't supposed to in class. But it's different for us."  
"How?"  
"It just is, Anthony."  
Hermione changed the subject, "So where are you going after lunch?"  
"Charms, History of Magic, Divination, and I think that's it."  
"The library?" asked Hermione.  
"Did that."  
"The Hospital?" snickered Renata.  
"Did that too."  
"Quiditch field?"  
"Been there.  
"Then I guess Flitwick, Binns, and Trelawny are the only ones left to see."  
"Yeah. Trelawny, my favorite," Harry rolled his eyes.  
"What's wrong with her?" asked Anthony.  
"Whenever we get around to predictions she always predicts my death," sighed Harry.  
"Isn't that kind of morbid for a teacher?"  
"It's annoying, that's what it is."  
"Lunch is over. We're going to Flitwick's first so we might as well walk with you." Harry talked to Ron while Anthony was saying something to Hermione. When they got to the Charms classroom, Harry introduced Professor Flitwick to Anthony before heading off to go to History of Magic.  
Anthony was clearly startled to see Professor Binns. Harry hadn't mentioned that the Professor was a ghost. They didn't stay there for introductions.  
"Come on, Trelawny's room is up in the North Tower. Are you sure you want to meet her?"  
"Yes."  
"Alright," Harry sighed as he changed direction. "North Tower is this way." By the time they were halfway to the North Tower, Harry had begun to sink into his own thoughts. He was therefore extremely startled when a voice shouted at him.  
"Come ye now and fight! I've seen ye eyeing the maiden in that painting yonder! I shall defend her honor!"  
"Huh? Sir Cadogan, give it a rest. It's me."  
"My good sir, I did not mean to disturb your meditations. I was reprimanding that fellow with you who was looking at my lady in the golden frame across the hall."  
Harry's gaze shifted from Sir Cadogan, the knight in the painting nearest to them, to concentrate it on a picture of a pretty girl across the hallway. He then looked at Anthony who seemed utterly confused.  
"What did I do wrong?"  
Harry whispered, "This knight is mental. Just a second." He raised his voice and turned to Sir Cadogan. Harry attempted to copy Sir Cadogan's manner of speaking. "Er-My good Sir Knight, my friend here was merely looking around. He has never been here before."  
"Alright. Carry on then, good sirs." He sheathed his sword (which he'd been waving about clumsily) and returned to the task of trying to mount his horse, which had begun to chew lazily on the grass.  
After they were out of hearing distance, Anthony asked, "Who was that?"  
"Sir Cadogan. He's crazy."  
"Obviously."  
"He guarded the Gryffindor Tower for a while in my third year."  
"Why?"  
"No one else wanted the job. Then he was fired."  
"Why not? And why was he fired?"  
"Those are both really long stories but the short of it is everyone thought Sirius wanted to kill me. We're almost at the classroom. Here's the landing, up ahead." When they reached the landing, the silver rope ladder descended automatically.  
"I'm supposed to climb that?" he asked incredulously.  
"Everyone else in the class does." Harry climbed the ladder easily and climbed back down. Harry steadied the ladder as best he could while Anthony climbed. Twice. He fell the first time and had to start over. He only barely made it to the top on the second time. Harry followed.  
Once in the room Harry's eyes took a few seconds to focus. The room was stuffy, hot, and as perfumed as ever. The students were working with palmistry and examining each other's hands.  
Professor Trelawny was bending over one of the students' hands and pointing out to the others at the table. Notice how long the lifeline is. You have a long life ahead of you, young man."  
Harry muttered, "How come he's got a long life ahead of him but I've got the shortest lifeline she's ever seen?" Professor Trelawny always winced at his hands when they studied palmistry.  
Professor Trelawny spun around, her orb-like eyes fixed on him. "Destiny! It is all written in the stars, what was, what is, and what will be!"  
Harry turned to Anthony, trying not to laugh, but Anthony wasn't there. Anthony was bent over one of the student's books.  
"So this is my happiness line?"  
"Yes, a good long one."  
"And this would be my lifeline?"  
"Yes, impressive. A long life ahead of you."  
"Professor Trelawny, this is Anthony, he is going to join our class."  
"I look forward to it. You seem eager to learn?"  
"Oh, yes. I didn't take Divination at Beauxbatons."  
"You should reconsider it when you go back. I perceive a strong aura around you."  
"We should be going," said Harry. Harry went down the ladder first and steadied it so Anthony could come down.  
"Why didn't you want to go there? That was fascinating. Marvelous."  
"You wouldn't think so if she kept saying you were going to die and flinching when she looked at you."  
"But you're not dead, are you?"  
"Not yet. She's batty. She's been predicting my death for the last three years. Eventually she'll be right, seeing as everybody dies."  
They went back to the common room. Anthony started going over to talk to other students. Harry left on the pretense that he had to find out from Sirius about homework. He was really interested in looking for Ron and Hermione. He was ready to talk to his friends instead.  
Harry found Ron bitterly walking by himself.  
"What's the matter?"  
"If I see him anywhere near Hermione-"  
"Who?"  
"That new guy. You saw him talking to Hermione all last night and on the way to Charms."  
"So?"  
"Don't you see? It's Krum all over again."  
Ron had a point. Krum had just waltzed in here from another school, and then he had asked Hermione to the dance, then he talked to her and hung out with her whenever he could. But Harry saw no reason to upset Ron further.  
"Look, I'm sure it won't be that bad. Know what he told me? He likes Divination. Seriously! Hermione'll be laughing in his face the instant he asks if she wants to read tea leaves or something."  
"I guess you're right. But if he starts hanging around the library, he's in trouble."  
  
Over the next two weeks the Quiditch team continued their hard training and finally, the fateful Saturday was arriving. The day Gryffindor would play Ravenclaw.  
  
Harry spent that Friday night pacing in the common room out by the dying fire. Eventually Harry sat by the fire, consumed by his thoughts. They aren't ready for this! The Chasers don't communicate. The Beaters are always in each other's way. They're all going to be humiliated tomorrow. I'm going to be humiliated tomorrow. Harry put his head in his hands.  
It may have been an hour later, or just a few minutes but whenever it was, Harry felt a hand on his shoulder.  
"I knew you'd be down here. Don't worry about tomorrow."  
"How did you know?"  
"Know that you'd be down here, or know that you were worrying about the match?"  
"Both."  
"Harry, you've been preoccupied about the match for days. Let me guess: you came down here, paced for a while, then decided to quietly worry while you sulked in that chair."  
"How did you know? If you were reading my mind again-"  
"Of course I wasn't. I know you, so I know what you're thinking just by the way you're sitting there. The match will be fine."  
"You should have let me move practice up to five times a week."  
"Nothing was stopping you from adding the extra practice to the schedule."  
"Nothing except your threat to leave the team if I added more practices."  
"True," she shrugged.  
Renata was not a disposable team member. Harry couldn't afford not to have her on the team anymore. There were few enough good players on his team this year and there wasn't another decent Keeper to replace her.  
"Go upstairs, Harry. You need rest."  
"I can't sleep. My team is going to go out there and get slaughtered." He pointed outside in the direction of the Quiditch field. "They'll be the laughing stock of the school. We'll be the laughing stock of the school." He started pacing again.  
"Harry, how can you expect the team to be any good if you don't have faith in them? These are your players. Ginny, Dennis, Jeffery, Claire, Daphne, this is their first game. If you don't believe in them, who will? The Ravenclaw team expecting to win that match and the other Ravenclaws in the stands? What about the Slytherins, are they going to cheer your team on? Harry, if you aren't going out there tomorrow with confidence in those rookies out there with you, how are they going to play to your standards? If that's the case then I don't think I want to be on your team. If you don't have confidence in them and you don't believe in them then how do you expect anyone else to believe in them? Or them to believe in themselves? You're going upstairs. You are getting some rest and in the morning I want you to have faith that those rookies are going to do their best out there."  
"Renata, what if their best isn't good enough? What if my best as a Captain wasn't good enough?"  
"Then I guarantee that I will personally beat up anyone who dares to laugh at our team." She wasn't joking. "Madam Pomfrey will have her hands full with kids with broken arms and black eyes. If Malfoy laughs I'll break his legs too."  
"I'm not going back up there. I won't be able to fall asleep. The match."  
Renata took something out of her pocket. "I thought I might need this. Sit." She pressed down on his shoulder until he lowered himself into the chair and was firmly seated. "Drink this."  
Harry sniffed the open vial. He recognized the scent. "That's a sleeping draft."  
"You don't think I know that?"  
"I'm not drinking it." Harry closed his mouth like an insolent child that wouldn't take his medicine.  
"Yes, you are." Without any warning or further argument, Renata pinched his nose and held the vial in front of his mouth. "If you want to breathe, you've got open your mouth."  
Around 40 seconds later Harry opened his mouth but Renata emptied the potion into it before he could shut it again.  
"Any minute now, you'll fall asleep. I'll be right back."  
Harry never saw her come back.  
  
When Harry woke up he couldn't remember where he was. Then he saw the fireplace in front of him. He peeled off a blanket that he didn't remember putting on and got off the chair. He went up to his room to get dressed.  
Harry took out his Firebolt from his trunk and crept back downstairs. If he was lucky he'd get to the field without anyone knowing he was missing. Harry, unfortunately, had no such luck.  
As he crossed the Great Hall and neared the doors to leave it he heard a voice.  
"I told you he'd pull a stunt like this. Harry, get back here right now."  
Harry turned to see Renata and Hermione look at him with sour expressions. "Harry, come sit down or we'll be forced to hex you."  
"What do you want?"  
"Harry, you're at least going to eat some breakfast before going out there."  
"I've got to go do warm up laps."  
"If you tire yourself out now, you'll be useless in the game."  
"Besides," added Hermione. "You're not stepping outside without eating something. It's not healthy; you need your strength so you've got to eat something."  
"I can't eat. Too nervous."  
"Harry, what did I tell you about that last night? Don't you believe in them?"  
"Of course I do but-"  
"Then stop it and sit down before we have to tie you to the chair."  
"No."  
Hermione told Renata "Let me handle this." Hermione raised her wand and before Harry realized what Hermione was doing, she had shouted, "Accio Firebolt!"  
The Firebolt sped out of Harry's hand and into Hermione's outstretch arm.  
"Very neatly done, Miss Granger." The voice didn't belong to any of the three students standing there. 


	13. Mounting Quiditch Difficultiesand other ...

"Professor Dumbledore, er." Harry couldn't think of what to say.  
"My thoughts exactly." The Headmaster smiled. "Why don't I join the three of you for a little breakfast?"  
There seemed to be no point in arguing in a situation like this so Harry retreated to the Gryffindor table. Hermione and Renata sat down on either side of him.  
"May I be privileged to know what brings the three of you out this early on a Saturday?"  
Renata answered before Harry could even open his mouth. "Harry wanted to get some flying in before the game started. We're here to make sure he doesn't hurt himself and that he ate properly."  
She had opted to go with the truth. That was a first.  
"I see. Harry, if it won't deter you too much from your extra, last minute, Quiditch practice, would you mind coming to talk with me for a moment?"  
"Not at all."  
"Excuse us." Dumbledore and Harry left the table. "Harry, did you know your father played Quiditch for Gryffindor?"  
"Yes, sir."  
"Were you aware that once, he became so absorbed in the game that he forgot about everything else? He didn't want to eat, or sleep, or do his homework. Where the team ranked was more important to him than anything else. Then he fainted in class one day. Lack of sleep and food had caught up with him. He was exhausted. He'd been going outside to fly in every spare moment. When he had to be indoors he was reading Quiditch magazines. It wasn't healthy, Harry. Do you understand?"  
"I understand. Was he punished for the way he was acting?"  
"He was suspended from the team for a month and we locked up his broom. Remember this Harry: Quiditch is fun, but it shouldn't be your life."  
"Yes, sir."  
"Although I daresay your friends would intervene before things got too serious."  
"Yes. They would force me to eat and use potions to make me fall asleep before they let me become unhealthy."  
"I suspected so, but all the same it's good to hear. I must be going now, I'm not supposed to take sides but, good luck today."  
"Thank you."  
At the table Hermione asked, "What was that all about?"  
"Dumbledore was trying to scare me with the dangers of over-obsessing about Quiditch."  
"Be warned, Harry. You're our friend we don't plan to let you get hurt or hurt yourself. So you can forget about becoming so obsessed with Quiditch that you forget about the world. 'Cause we'll let you turn into an overweight bookworm before we let that happen. 'Kay?"  
He couldn't help grinning.  
"Now, the game isn't until around eleven. It's six in the morning now and the three of us have been down here for almost an hour. You didn't go to sleep until two in the morning. I say we all go upstairs for a few more hours of rest."  
"I don't want to."  
"Harry."  
"I don't want to."  
It took a half an hour and more than a few threats to finally get Harry back in the common room where he was forced to take another sleeping draught.  
The last thing he heard before he fell asleep was, "I hope we aren't causing brain damage here."  
  
When Harry woke again it was nearly ten in the morning. Hermione was asleep in a chair nearby and Renata was leaning against the portrait hole door, snoring lightly. Harry shook his head and tried to remember where his broom was.  
Where would Hermione have hidden it? Somewhere he either couldn't go to or wouldn't think to go. Where couldn't he go? Where was the one he couldn't and wouldn't go? Harry sighed. The girls' dormitory. No way to get the broom himself. He'd have to wake them up. Who first?  
Harry crept up to Renata and shouted in her ear, "GET UP!"  
She continued to snore. People were starting to come down from their dorms. Harry saw Parvati come down.  
"Parvati?"  
"What?"  
"Er-could you do me a favor and see if Renata or Hermione by any chance hid my Firebolt in your room? They were playing a trick on me and I think that's where it is."  
"Okay, I'll check." She disappeared up the stairs.  
Ron came down and asked, "Where were you, Harry?"  
"Long story."  
"I didn't see it up there," Parvati told Harry, coming down the stairs.  
"Thanks, anyway."  
Ron gave Harry a questioning look.  
"Oh, Renata and Hermione hid my broomstick and they gave me a sleeping potion so I wouldn't leave. I tried to wake them up but they didn't hear a word I said. And look, Renata's blocking the exit."  
"So? We move her."  
Harry and Ron dragged Renata off to the side so people could leave. Then they started shaking her until she woke up. Even when she was awake, she didn't seem to be hearing them.  
She took her wand out and muttered something. "Sorry about that. It was a mute charm. I couldn't hear either of you."  
"No time for that. Where's my broom?"  
"I don't know. Hermione was in charge of hiding it."  
They proceeded to wake Hermione. "I'll get it." She crossed the room and went to the window. She leaned out and after struggling for a moment came inside carrying the Firebolt.  
"How'd you get it to stay?"  
"Rubber cement. It's quarter after ten, just enough time for you to eat before the match."  
"I'm not eating."  
"Fine," Renata told him. "Then it's just enough time for us to shove something down your throat. Either way, you're not playing on an empty stomach."  
Harry hadn't thought they would force-feed him, but he was wrong.  
Down in the Great Hall Ron held his hands behind his back, Renata pinched his nose and Hermione shoveled food in his mouth. This didn't go on for too long because of course Harry realized how ridiculous he looked after two bites and he agreed to be a good boy and eat on his own. The truth about why he didn't want to eat was that he was afraid he would lose his breakfast allover the field, he was that nervous.  
On his way to the locker room Hermione said to Harry, "You'll do fine. Trust the team."  
"Nnnnng."  
Ron gave it a try. "Harry, you're a good Seeker, right?"  
"I'm okay, I guess."  
"Alright, and Renata is a good Keeper."  
"Yeah."  
"So, if she doesn't let anybody on the other team score and you get the Snitch then you guys automatically win no matter how bad the rest of the team is."  
It made sense.  
Hermione put her arm around Harry, "And don't forget, we'll be in the stands cheering for you. Good luck."  
"Yeah, good luck, Harry."  
Harry was only feeling slightly better as he entered the locker room to give his pre-game speech. "Okay, team. We've got our first game ahead of us. I know that for most of you this will be your first match. It's okay. You'll be fine. Just get out there and do your best." He muttered, "And I hope it's good enough."  
Renata was nearest to him and she frowned, "What Mr. Captain here means is that this is Ravenclaw: they are smart and they're a good team, but the thing is we're smart, we're a good team, we've been training hard, and we're not afraid. We can do it! Repeat after me: we can do it!" No one answered, she repeated, "We can do it!"  
There was weak agreement.  
"Alright then," said Renata. "Let's go win!"  
They trudged out onto the field. He asked Renata, "Are you a Quiditch player or a cheerleader?"  
"Both. Still designing the cheer outfit. Good luck, and don't worry."  
Harry went and shook hands with Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw captain.  
"Good luck, Harry," she smiled, obviously full of confidence in her team but at the same time, sincere about wishing him luck.  
"You, too," he said half-heartedly.  
Madam Hooch said, "Are you all ready? Three.two.one!" The game started.  
"And, look! There they go! Ginny Weasly passes the ball to Dennis Creevy, my brother, and.no! The pass misses? The Quaffle is caught by Dave Reynolds of Ravenclaw. It's a nice clean pass and.Ravenclaw sc- no! Wow! That was a terrific block by Renata Delano! Did you guys see that? Awesome! I mean, that was just incredible! Renata passes to Jeffery Brown and.he misses. Ravenclaw has the ball again. They attempt to score and.again! Another excellent block by Renata Delano. No one seems to have seen the Snitch yet but both Harry Potter and Cho Chang seem to be searching in earnest." Collin Creevy, after not making the team, had applied for the position of running the commentary during the matches.  
Harry looked around and couldn't find the Snitch, the problem was he couldn't concentrate. Thanks to Renata, Ravenclaw hadn't scored yet; but thanks to the Gryffindor Chasers, neither had the Gryffindors.  
Harry tried to concentrate on looking for the Snitch but he found he couldn't. He kept getting distracted by watching his own team. He kept muttering, "How did she miss that one? Good, he caught it, now the pass.no! Oh, how did Daphne miss that Bludger? It hit Ginny and messed up her shot!" Harry switched directions angrily and nearly collided with the very Bludger that had just hit Ginny that came hurling at him at a great speed. "Watch it!" he yelled at Claire.  
"Sorry!"  
Harry continued to look for the Snitch. He knew that it was their only shot at winning. Renata was doing well enough and hadn't let the Ravenclaws score yet but there was only so long that she could keep it up.  
"And there seems to have bee no sign of the Snitch, yet. But wait a minute! It looks like Cho Chang of Ravenclaw sees it! She is going after it. She's now only yards away. Where's Harry Potter? Does anyone see him? There he is! Harry Potter is all the way on the other side of the field! Cho is closing in on the Snitch. Harry's trying to catch up. Does anybody think he can get there in time? He's catching up but Cho is just a few yards away from the Golden Snitch and.she cuts him off! He tried to pass her and she cut him off!"  
Harry swore silently. He blew it. There was no way he'd be able to catch up now but he had to try.  
"And Cho Chang catches the Golden Snitch! The game is over! Ravenclaw wins 150 points to-wait a second! Oh no! It looks like.yes.Harry Potter has just collided with a Bludger. Can anyone see if he's all right?"  
Harry clutched his stomach and tried to land. He landed, and lost his breakfast on the field. "Argh." So there he was, the great Harry Potter, bent double on the Quiditch field. And on top of that he'd just lost a Quiditch game. It was humiliating.  
As the fans left the stands Harry thought he heard Draco Malfoy laughing, but he didn't see him anywhere and even if he did it would have been impossible to distinguish his voice through the crowd.  
Hermione and Ron came and helped Harry up. "Are you all right, Harry?"  
"No, I'm not alright! We just lost."  
"Harry," Hermione said gently, "that's not important. Physically, are you all right? Those Bludgers are rough."  
"I'm fine," he said shortly, clutching his stomach. "I can't believe it. Gryffindor has always been a good team, until this year. These kids can't play Quiditch! They're just no good at it."  
"I'm sorry but this has got to be said, you insensitive jerk! Those kids were out there giving it their all! And you just walk away! You cannot just turn your back on them. If you're going to do that then this team needs somebody else in charge because you're just not fit to run it!" Renata started walking away and then came back. She pointed her wand at her throat and said, "Sonoris." She took a deep breath, and then her voice became so loud. She stared coldly at him as she shouted, "ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS OF THE GRYFFINDOR QUIDITCH TEAM! THERE WILL BE AN EMERGENCY MEETING IN THE LOOKER ROOM! NOW! REPEAT! MEETING IN THE LOCKER ROOM, NOW!"  
Harry watched in disgust and went to the locker room. The team came and so did Ron and Hermione. Harry found Renata standing where he'd planned to be.  
"Good, everyone is here. I have a suggestion. I think we need, at least temporarily, a new captain."  
The team just moaned, but it was a positive one, they agreed with Renata.  
"Now, wait just a second, I-" Harry started.  
Ginny looked him in the eye, "Harry, did you think we'd win today?"  
He didn't answer.  
"Did you?"  
"No! I didn't think so. And I was obviously right!"  
"Harry," said Dennis, "when the guy who led our practices and taught us how to play, doesn't think we have a chance, what's the point of trying? We knew you didn't think we'd win. But we tried to try."  
"No, you didn't. I was the only one out there today who-"  
"Harry!" said Ron, suddenly. "What about Renata? Not a single time did the Quaffle get passed her today, not once! Did you get the Snitch?"  
"No, but-"  
"But nothing! That was your job, Harry. Get the Snitch. You didn't do your job either, okay? So just shut-up and let Renata talk!" Ron yelled.  
A shocked silence began and Renata started. "Does anyone remember the basics of Quiditch? There are four positions: Chaser, Beater, Keeper, and Seeker." She ticked the numbers off on her fingers and shot Harry a look of disgust when she got to Seeker. "The Chasers deal with the Quaffle, just the Quaffle. They pass it back and forward and try to get it through one of the hoops; there are three of them. They have got to communicate. They have got to plan. They have got to think, 'If I throw the Quaffle now, Ginny will be there so I throw, now!' But that doesn't work if she doesn't know you're going to throw it, or if she knows you're throwing it but you don't get it in the right place. And Beaters, you deal with the Bludgers, there are two of them and all you have to do is make sure they don't hit anyone on our team. If possible make them hit the other team, but at least keep them away from our team. Now the Keeper, she deals with the Quaffle too. She makes sure that nothing gets through the hoop; Chasers, outsmart the other team's Keeper. Now, Mr. Seeker over there," she jerked her head at Harry and gave him a nasty glare. "All he had to do was find the Snitch and get it before Cho. Didn't work, did it? I asked a question."  
Harry mumbled something.  
"Did anyone else see when the Snitch was behind Harry's head? Right behind his head, and he didn't know it? I did."  
"Then why didn't you say something?" he asked angrily.  
"Because, that wasn't my job. I'm the Keeper, remember? I say we take a vote. All in favor of a new Captain?"  
Harry looked around the room. Renata's hand shot up as soon as the words were out of her mouth; Claire's hand went up; Ginny's was soon in the air; the rest followed. Even Ron and Hermione raised their hands.  
"You two are against me, too? You're my best friends."  
"That's why we have to do this, Harry."  
"You can't vote! You're not on the team."  
"You're still outnumbered."  
"Fine! I quit!" Harry stormed out of the room, half-hoping someone would try to stop so he'd have an excuse to snap back at them. No one stopped him. Good, he thought, I don't want to talk to anyone anyway.  
Harry went to the Great Hall to get something to eat. He didn't speak to anyone. That night, Harry left the common room early. He lay awake for a long time, unable to stop the thoughts going around and around his head.  
  
In the morning at breakfast, which Harry ate alone at one end of the Gryffindor table. He received an owl that he was most certainly not in the mood for.  
  
Harry,  
It's Oliver Wood. I got someone to send me the schedule of when  
Gryffindor plays. I couldn't make yesterday's match, sorry about  
that. But I will be there for the last one. How did yesterday's  
go?  
Oliver Wood  
  
He started to crumple the page. If this were last year, Harry would have been thrilled. Last year he had a great team with nobody new to the game, everybody knew how to play right and they did it. This year.well, it was the complete opposite. Oliver Wood was a great Keeper, Renata was only just barely his equal, if she was. He'd been the captain of the Gryffindor team before Harry had been. He was a Quiditch fanatic. He had the team up at dawn practicing on Saturdays.  
Wood had been great. He and Charlie Weasly were probably the most memorable players from Gryffindor any of the students could think of. Although, Harry was near the top of the list, too. He was the most recent first year to have made a house team in a century.  
Harry knew Wood would be disappointed if he'd seen the game today. But it wasn't my fault! Harry thought. Harry didn't see Ron, Hermione, or Renata at all that day. 


	14. Always Kiss and MakeUp After A Fight

The next day, Harry avoided his friends as much as possible but it still wasn't enough. He had Transfiguration that morning with Ron, Hermione and Renata and in order to avoid sitting with any of them he had to sit in the front while McGonagall explained how to transfigure straw into wool. Then they had potions together and Snape used Harry's lack of concentration to repeatedly scream at him and take points from Gryffindor. Harry sat alone in order to avoid his other friends other friends at lunch. Divination was worse than usual, he didn't even have Ron to laugh with and to make bad matters worse Ron was sitting with Renata. Harry sat next to Anthony for two reasons: one, to make Ron mad, and two, there was nowhere else to sit.  
After class he asked, "Harry, what is wrong with you and your friends? What happened?"  
"Quiditch."  
"Oh. That wasn't a very good game on Saturday."  
"Yeah 'oh'. That game was a disaster. Renata thinks it's my fault. She's taken over as Captain."  
"Well, then why are you mad at Ron and Hermione? No one can ever be mad at Hermione," Anthony said eagerly.  
"Because Renata put it to a vote and they voted against me too. And they aren't even on the team!" he replied crossly.  
Harry spent the next few days sulking, and never spoke once to Ron, Hermione, or Renata. People who knew him well noticed the changes in behavior. Sirius and Lupin repeatedly asked if anything was wrong. Snape used Harry's foul temper as an excuse to be especially nasty. Draco Malfoy decided this was the perfect time to get on Harry's nerves.  
By the end of the week, Harry just wanted to have nothing to do with anyone. He spent a lot of time studying; he didn't go to Quiditch practice. Quite a few Gryffindors were mad at him, not just the team and Ron and Hermione. That next Saturday Harry got a note at breakfast.  
  
Harry, see me at 8 o'clock on the Quiditch field. Don't be late.  
  
Harry was tempted to crumple up the note and throw it away, but as he had nothing else to do he decided to go. He hadn't let his friends know that he had had nothing to do all week and he wasn't go to let them know now. This time he actually had somewhere to be. That night Harry made sure Renata, Hermione, and Ron saw him leave the common room. They still hadn't really spoken to him all week. The words that had passed between them were few and far between and weren't very pleasant.  
He entered the stadium and didn't see anyone at first. Then he saw a figure standing near one end of the field.  
"I'm so glad you decided to show up." The voice was slightly sarcastic.  
"What do you want?"  
"Why? It's not as if you've got friends waiting for you in the common room. Do you?"  
Harry didn't reply.  
"Walk with me, talk with me." Rory walked up to him. "We'll walk around the field for awhile while I understand the facts. The four of you aren't very helpful in explaining things. Just answer true or false. You are mad at Renata, Hermione, and Ron."  
"True."  
"The fight is about that really bad Quiditch game last Saturday."  
"True."  
  
"They kicked you off the team when Ren called that emergency meeting."  
"No, they didn't! I quit."  
"Okay. Sure. Think what you want, they were suspending you anyway, whether you quit or not. Look at this." She drew a piece of parchment from her cloak.  
"Th-this is an order signed by Dumbledore and McGonagall to get me temporarily suspended from the team."  
"Yep."  
"I can't believe they'd go behind my back like that and do this," he said angrily.  
"Just take it easy, Harry. It's not their fault. It's yours."  
"What are you talking about?"  
"You. You've got to believe in the team, Harry. You're the reason they didn't know what to do out there last week. You didn't discuss the plays you wanted, you didn't talk about timing, you didn't teach them how to play. You just sent them out there like sheep and fed 'em to the wolves. You realize that? You don't, do you? Last year you had a team that knew how to play and knew how to work together. Those delightful twins and those three girls had been playing Quiditch together for six years when you took over last year, and I've never seen a girl more interested in Quiditch than Renata. Last year you had it made in the shade. This year needed work and you didn't do the work you should have. Well what have you got to say for yourself? Other than that you know I'm right."  
Harry couldn't say anything. Rory was right. He hadn't given the team the effort he should have. They deserved better than he'd given them. Wood always spent his whole summer devising new Quiditch training programs and strategies, he'd make the team practice until they all knew the plays backwards and forwards, they knew where everyone on the field was at all times. This is was how he should have been running it. Now Wood would come to the next match know Harry had failed.  
"So what am I supposed to do now?" he asked angrily. "Do you think they'll take me back? Are they going to forgive me?"  
"As a friend, I think they will. As a team-member, I'm not so sure. You're pretty much the best Seeker in the school, but it doesn't mean that they won't replace you if they have to. Renata's a good Seeker too, but I don't know how they'll get a Keeper like her. I don't know what to tell you, Harry. I only have one piece of advice for you."  
"And what advice is that?"  
"Grovel. Beg. Plead. Apologize until you are so hoarse you can't speak anymore. Get on your knees and ask for forgiveness until they are so bloody and so that you can't get up again."  
"And so how am I supposed to get up if I'm on my knees until they are so sore I can't?"  
"Maybe, if you're lucky, your friends will be willing to help you up. That's what they are there for, Harry. That's why they are there." She said this in all seriousness. "We have to get back inside."  
Harry thought the whole way back to Gryffindor Tower. He realized he had let everyone down. He had let his friends down. He let Gryffindor down. He probably let Sirius and Lupin down, too. His friends had been right when they'd shouted at him and told him what they thought. It was what he needed to hear, but he hadn't been listening at the time.  
He was nearly at the portrait of the Fat Lady in the pink dress before either of them spoke.  
"I have to go back downstairs since I'm staying in the Slytherin dormitory. I'll leave you to deal with that ghost over there and explain why you are so late getting back to the common room. Bye." Rory left quickly.  
Harry sighed and turned around the final corner to meet Nearly- Headless-Nick, who was patrolling the corridor.  
"Ah, Harry, what you doing out so late?"  
"Er-hello, Nick. I was just talking to.Sirius."  
"I see. That's nice."  
"It's getting late and I've got some homework to do."  
"Of course. Goodnight, Harry."  
"Goodnight, Nick." Harry nearly gave a sigh of relief but was careful not to. He said the password and entered the common room.  
He met the cold stare of his best friends. Renata, Hermione, and Ron were engaged in a game of cards an only spared him a half-glance. He was starting to feel annoyed again but he took a few deep breaths; he knew what he had to say, even if he didn't want to say it.  
He approached his friends. "Er, I wanted to talk to you."  
Renata and the other ignored him and she said, "I win. My turn to deal."  
"Look. I need to talk to you."  
Ron didn't even look at him as he asked, "So where were you?"  
"I was talking to Rory."  
"Oh, really. Why don't you just go back and talk to her again and leave us in peace?" Hermione said acidly.  
"I really need to talk to you three."  
"We don't speak to insensitive jerks," Renata said.  
He took a deep breath, "What about an insensitive jerk who is sorry and wants to apologize to his best friends? Would you speak to him?"  
The three at the table shared a look and Ron replied, "Keep talking and we'll see."  
"Look, I messed up. The team deserved the best out of every single player; they didn't get the best from me. I-I was wrong. Ron, Hermione, you guys were being real friends; telling me what I needed to hear when I didn't want to hear it. That's what your real friends do. I was just stupid and didn't listen. Renata, I obviously haven't been the best Captain or even team member. Look, I understand if I'm not allowed back on the team again, but I'd rather have my friends back. That's more important to me than anything else."  
His friends didn't say anything and Harry couldn't read their faces. "Well?" he asked after a minute or two of the awkward silence.  
"We're thinking," Renata said. Her tone hadn't changed but Harry was almost sure that there was something almost playful about her expression. The three whispered for a couple of minutes while Harry waited and trained not to look nervous.  
Ron was the first to look at Harry again. "We forgive you."  
".But we've come up with a few rules," finished Hermione.  
Harry puzzled, and asked, "Rules?"  
Renata nodded, "One: as far as Quiditch goes, you, are on probation. Details will be discussed at a later time."  
"What's the next rule?"  
"Two: you have to promise to try to listen to us. Three-"  
"Wait, how many rules are there?"  
"Three. Three: you have to publicly apologize to us."  
  
"When?"  
"At the next Quiditch game."  
Wait, a public apology?"  
"Yes. Or there's always option two."  
"What's my second option?"  
"You have to kiss somebody over Christmas break."  
"I can have Ginny walk under the mistletoe," grinned Ron.  
Harry frowned. "So basically this is like a truth or dare thing? Either I tell the truth and admit that I was wrong in front of everybody at the Quiditch game, or I take the dare and I have to kiss somebody over Christmas break. Why?"  
"We have our reasons."  
"When do I get to find out what those reasons are?"  
"When we feel like telling you. You were a jerk, and jerks should be punished. Now pull up a chair and we'll start another game of cards."  
Harry grinned. "Alright."  
"So what did you and Rory discuss?" asked Hermione.  
"She showed me the error of my ways."  
"Really? She explained to you that you were being a brat?"  
"More or less."  
"So what have you been up to all week? We've hardly spoken to you and I know lots of other people who weren't eager to speak to you either."  
"Well, I spent a lot of time studying by myself. After all I didn't have anyone to talk to. Nobody in Gryffindor was willing to talk to me."  
Renata asked, "So how badly did Malfoy get on your nerves? Did he remember to use that curse that makes your head swell up like a balloon? I love that one. It seemed to fit the situation nicely."  
"How did you know about that?"  
She grinned in response. "Hey, I was mad at you so I gave him a curse or two to use."  
Harry sighed and shook his head. "Why do I ever get on your bad side? It always results in something like this."  
Renata grinned again. "That's why nobody likes to get in fights with me.  
Ron shook his head at her, "You're a little trouble-maker, that's why. You almost want him to fight with you."  
"Sure. It adds some excitement to life when it gets boring. Although I still wish we hadn't lost that Quiditch game."  
Hermione added, "At least it wasn't the match against Slytherin."  
"Yeah, otherwise things would have been a hundred times worse. We still wouldn't be speaking to you."  
"I win," declared Hermione.  
"Great. Another game?"  
"I'm tired."  
"What's the matter, Harry? Apologizing to us really takes that much effort?"  
"Yeah. You especially have an exhausting personality, Renata."  
"I'll take that as compliment, Harry."  
Harry picked up the cards and dealt them out again. "So what have all of you been up to this week?"  
Ron shrugged.  
Renata said, "Quiditch practice Monday, Wednesday, and Friday."  
Ron added, "And don't forget Hogsmeade on Tuesday."  
Hermione told him, "And Thursday we did our homework."  
Harry suddenly felt left out; they'd had fun all week without him. Well, other than the homework part but it was still better than his week.  
"Well, what did you do all week?" Hermione asked.  
Harry sighed, "I told you, I was studying.that was fun."  
"Not likely."  
"I'm tired. I'm going upstairs. Goodnight, everybody."  
"Goodnight, Harry," they replied together. "We'll see you in the morning."  
Harry couldn't help smiling to himself. It was good to have friends again. 


	15. Quiditch, Bets, and Old Friends

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, for anybody who doesn't like Renata and think Harry is treated pretty unfairly in this book, I'm sorry. Really. But I wrote it that way on purpose, he's never been a pampered prince and he's never going to be, though I admit I'm a little extreme. And Renata gets worse. But have you ever heard that song? Here's part of the lyrics: "and the sound of the rain against my window pane/Is slowly driving me insane" Yeah. Kinda like that. Renata is going to drive Harry a little crazy. My BF began to hate Renata when I was writing this and said I'd be better off just stabbing Harry with a knife and that that would be more merciful. But I had FUN writing her character. Trust me, Harry doesn't hate her. ;-)  
  
When Harry woke up the next morning he found Hedwig sitting patiently at the end of his bed with a letter. Then Harry saw the window was open. He wondered briefly who opened the window and then he went back to the letter.  
  
Hey Harry,  
Meet us in the locker room at 6 o'clock to discuss your  
Quiditch probation.  
The Controllers of Your Fate  
  
Harry couldn't help being amused and annoyed at the same time. He had an idea about who the letter could be from: Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Madam Hooch were faculty members that were able to greatly influence how much he was allowed to play Quiditch, but he didn't think teachers had sent the letter. Although it'd be nice if people would actually start signing the letters they wrote him. He had a suspicion of which student or students had sent the letter, but he would have to wait until six o'clock for confirmation for his suspicions.  
* * * That night Harry had a hard time finding his friends. He still hadn't located them by quarter to six when he left for the locker room. When he got there, his suspicions proved to be half-true.  
Just as he had suspected, Renata was there, and Rory too; Harry hadn't anticipated the other two people, which was a surprise in itself.  
"Ron, Hermione, what are you doing here?"  
Hermione smiled, "The letter was signed 'Controllers of Your Fate' you honestly didn't think it would just be Rory and Renata, did you?"  
"Well."  
Ron laughed.  
"What does Dumbledore have to say about this?"  
"He agrees whole-heartedly."  
"And laughed and talked about what a great idea this was."  
Harry shook his head helplessly. "Then I give in. I surrender. What are the terms of negotiation?"  
Renata drew a piece of paper out of her pocket. She began to read; " 'You have forfeited any and all rights and privileges associated with being team captain until such a time, if any, that the CGQ sees fit to return them to you.' "  
" 'The CGQ'?" Harry asked, puzzled.  
"Council of Gryffindor Quiditch."  
"So, basically the four of you?"  
"And others."  
"Like who?"  
"Dumbledore, McGonagall, Claire, Dennis, Ginny, Daphne, Jeffery, and Collin."  
Harry shook his head in disbelief. "And just how long has this council existed?"  
"About a week. Now, shush and let me finish reading, 'All Capatain- rights will be transferred to an elected member of the Council. You will be responsible for setting up and cleaning the Quiditch equipment until said probation is over. In addition an apology must be made to the Council.' So what do you think? Oh, and you're suspended from all CGQ meetings until further notice."  
"It's no worse than I deserve." In truth, he thought it was more than a little silly but it was fair considering how he'd acted.  
"Good. Here comes the rest of the Council."  
"Why?"  
"Because they have to watch you sign this." Renata waved the parchment about an inch from his nose.  
"Oh." He hadn't realized just how serious she'd been throughout her speech.  
Hermione took out a quill and some ink and handed them to Harry.  
As Harry skimmed the contract he heard Ron whisper something to someone. Harry signed it and looked up accusingly at him. He walked over and whispered to him as Renata walked away. "What was that about?"  
"Nothing."  
"Liar."  
"Quiet. Renata's talking."  
"First order of business, you, out." Renata pointed at Harry.  
"What? Why?"  
Ginny asked, "Didn't she tell you? You're suspended from CGQ meetings."  
"But what about what I miss?"  
"Any information we feel you need to know will be reported to you later. Out." Renata smiled.  
Harry left and began wandering around outside. It wasn't long before most of his friends came out. Four people came out. "Where are the girls?"  
"They aren't done talking yet. Discussing details."  
"About what?"  
"You're not allowed to know until the new Captain decides you are."  
"Who's the new Captain?" He knew the answer as the words left his mouth.  
"Renata. And here she is."  
All the way back to the Tower Harry badgered Renata to tell him about the meeting. Finally, halfway there, she gave in.  
"They elected me as the new captain."  
"And?"  
"And I'm very happy. I'll be devising new game strategies and different practice methods."  
"So what kept you after?"  
"That? You're not allowed to know. Not yet."  
"When?"  
"When I feel like telling you."  
"And when will that be?"  
"The next Gryffindor Quiditch game. It's not all that far away, the sixteenth of next month."  
"That's not much time for practice."  
"I know. But practicing four times a week and using the new strategies I've come up with, we've got a shot." They entered the common room and sat down near the fire.  
"So, wait? You're making the practice four times a week. What if the team doesn't agree?"  
"They do. We took a vote. And don't say you didn't have a say in the matter because, you don't get a vote and if you object, you can be replaced."  
"How'd you get new strategies? You've been the Captain for less than an hour. I get it, you were planning a hostile takeover of the team the whole time."  
"Yep."  
He shook his head. Harry found some paper and began writing to Wood. Now he had to figure out how to word what he wanted to say.  
  
Oliver,  
I appreciate that you want to come to our game. This  
season isn't exactly going perfect. It's a rebuilding year. Five  
rookies on the team. Try not to be too shocked when you see us  
play. It might not be what you expect. So don't be too  
disappointed. I guess I'll see you soon.  
Harry  
  
Harry glanced over at Renata. She was curled up like a kitten in the chair opposite of him, asleep. He hadn't realized how late it had gotten. Harry went upstairs and brought back a spare blanket. The common room was nearly empty by now. He placed the blanket over her before going upstairs and changing into his pajamas. ************************************************************ November ended and December came and began to pass quickly. Harry and Ron played many games of wizard chess when he wasn't at Quiditch practice; Renata and Hermione were preoccupied with something else and hardly seemed to be around. When Harry did see them Hermione was doing homework and Renata was at Quiditch practice. Who knew when she got her homework done?  
"Potter! Weasly! Stop talking or you'll both get detention. 25 points from Gryffindor." Snape glared at the boys and the Slytherins laughed.  
When Snape was on the other side of the room Draco said, "You know, I'm taking bets, Potter. How badly do you think Gryffindor will do tomorrow? The smart money says 200 points at least. Granger? Potter? Weasly? Any bets?"  
Hermione was the first to answer. "The boys aren't stupid enough to waste their money on silly bets."  
Renata said, "Well, excuse me if they're not but I am. What's the running wager?"  
"3 Sickles, against Gryffindor. Various points concerning how bad you'll lose."  
Renata considered, "6 Sickles, saying that Gryffindor will win by 200."  
Malfoy laughed. "You really want to lose your money."  
"No. I intend to win. And then I will use my money to by presents for my friends, and just maybe if I win enough, I can buy you some brains and a little common sense."  
Harry couldn't hear the rest of what they said but Renata whispered something to Malfoy.  
He looked pleased.  
"What was that about, Renata?"  
"Nothing, Harry. Just a side bet."  
"What was it?"  
"I'll tell you after I win. Shut-up, here comes the grease ball."  
"Detention!"  
"Who?" Renata inquired, with utter innocence in her voice.  
"Everyone!"  
"Everyone? That's a little harsh," Renata remarked.  
"Fine, no one has detention. Except you. Quadruple detention!"  
When Snape walked away, Renata giggled, "Wow. For once his mood is fouler than his breath."  
This may have been what made Snape assign twice as much homework as he said he would.  
When they got out of class Renata and Ron hurried out to the hall but Harry said, "Hey, Hermione, can I talk to you a minute?"  
"Sure, Harry. But I have to meet Renata soon."  
"You're never around anymore."  
"What are you talking about? Did you need help with your Transfiguration homework last night? I'm sorry, I can't believe I forgot."  
"No. What I mean is that you're always either doing your homework or you disappear with Renata. What's going on? Ron and I have hardly seen you outside of class in weeks."  
"It's a project we're working on. It's really important."  
"But what is it?"  
"I want to tell you, but I can't."  
"Why not?" This hurt, Hermione was one of his best friends; she didn't usually keep secrets.  
"Renata really wants to see your face when you find out. Trust me, you might not believe it when you see it. You'll find out soon though." **************************************************************  
There was only an hour left before the game but Harry had to admit it, Renata had done a phenomenal job. Her new training program was fantastic. They might have a shot at winning.  
She'd had them work and practice until they knew where every one of them would be at all times. She'd come up with new plays that worked specifically on the strengths and weaknesses of the players. One example of her training techniques was that she'd gotten a bag of soccer balls and had the team stand around the Beaters in a circle and pelt the balls at them. "Don't be afraid," she'd told them. "Just remember: it won't kill you. If you get hit just focus your anger or pain or whatever on smacking the ball right back! And if you don't get hit remember how much getting hit would hurt and focus those thoughts on hitting it back. Then think about the fact that everybody on this team is your friend and you don't want the ball to hit them." Another time she blindfolded the Chasers (on the ground) and had them walk around. She would yell, "Stop!" And the Chasers would have to try and figure out where everyone on the field was. Eventually they got good at it. They'd worked on the Chasers' throwing, catching, and passing too. They got better. They had a chance today.  
Harry was pacing up and down in the locker room. Fifteen minutes until game time. Renata wasn't there yet and Hermione and Ron hadn't come by for their pre-game "good luck" speech. Five minutes later Ron showed up.  
"Sorry. I was looking for Hermione. I can't find her anywhere."  
"Oh."  
"She better not be sitting with Anthony. She was supposed to wait for me. Anyway, good luck, Harry. Remember: this is Hufflepuff, you could be them in your sleep. They're pushovers. I take it back; you don't need luck. Bye."  
In another five minutes Renata was there.  
"Where were you? The game is in five minutes!"  
"Chill, Harry. Remember your part of the training? Focus."  
Harry remembered. His part of the new training had been to learn to not pay attention to what everyone else in the game was doing and to focus on his job: find the Snitch. While he played those were to be the three most important words.  
"Okay, team. We are totally ready for this. We've been training not only longer and harder than Hufflepuff but we've been training smarter. They've got no clue as to what's in store for them. I want a good game. Your best. I'm not going to say we have to win but I know your personal best and I know that your best is better than theirs. So let's get out there and show Hufflepuff who's the boss!"  
The team cheered. And looked really pumped when they went out onto the field.  
"So where were you?" muttered Harry.  
"You'll see," she grinned and cut in front him so she could go stand in front of Madam Hooch. Renata shook hands with Ernie Macmillan and wished him good luck; grinning all the while with a cocky confidence.  
Madam Hooch blew her whistle and everyone flew into the air. When Harry got to about forty feet he suddenly knew what Renata and Hermione's "project" was. Standing near one of the stands was a group of seven girls. Harry couldn't tell who they all were but he was pretty sure the one on the end was Hermione. They were standing in rather short skirts with matching blouses, holding scarlet and gold pompoms, and they were cheering. Harry could just make out the words.  
One girl was leading, "Give me a W!"  
The others followed. "W!"  
"Give me an I!"  
"I!"  
"Give me an N!"  
"N!"  
"What's that spell?"  
"Win! Gryffindor! Gryffindor! Go lions!"  
"Fly, fight, win!"  
"Fly, fight, win!" While repeating their cheer they performed a routine with their pompoms and after that they dropped the pompoms in favor of a pyramid.  
Harry shook his head. Hermione had been right; he didn't believe it. He went back to looking for the elusive golden Snitch.  
"Something amazing must have happened since their last match because Gryffindor is running the field! Ginny scores again. 20 points to nothing. Macmillan has the Quaffle, he shoots.he misses!" There was a groan from the general Hufflepuff population in the stands as well as the Slytherins who had bet with Malfoy against Gryffindor. "That was a great block by Renata. She's looking tired though. No! There's a Bludger coming at her hit by Hufflepuff! That's not legal! Somebody save her, she doesn't see it!"  
What was she doing? Harry thought. How can she not see the Bludger? Suddenly Claire came hurtling at Renata and knocked the Bludger out of the way just in time. Collin was indignant. "That was close! But I've just been told Hufflepuff's move was completely legal. The Quaffle was near Renata when they hit the Bludger. Okay so fine. Hufflepuff's got the Quaffle.smooth move by my brother Dennis. Good going, Dennis! He's got the Quaffle.he passes to Jeffery.now it's back to Ginny.back to Dennis. What are they playing at? They score! 30 to 0. Renata, what did you do to your team? This is such a great change from the last game! And did anyone notice the cheerleaders? Whose idea were they? Back to the game. Nice shot at that Bludger by Daphne. Hit a Hufflepuff Chaser square in the arm. Still no sign of the Snitch. Gryffindor scores again! Wow! That was some shot! Did anyone see that shot? The Hufflepuff Keeper just can't keep up with this. Where's the Gryffindor Keeper?"  
Harry looked and didn't see Renata anywhere. Then he spotted her. Down on the ground talking to the head cheerleader. Renata spotted everyone looking at her and casually flew back to the hoop intercepted a shot from Hufflepuff along the way and throwing it back out to Jeffery. Hufflepuff had waited too long for the shot. That's when Harry saw it. The Snitch. It wasn't far. Twenty feet below him and about twenty yards to the right.  
It was unfortunate that at that moment the Snitch took off again and he was forced to chase it down field. And chase it he did. He blinded himself to everything but the Snitch he raced on. Finally he had it. It was in his hand. He screamed, "I got the Snitch! I got it! I got i-" that's when he hit the ground. Oops.  
"In the last two minutes Gryffindor has scored again and Harry Potter caught the Snitch! Gryffindor wins two-hundred to zero. I don't see how any team has a chance against them. Ow! That looks like it hurt! Harry crashed into the ground. I can't tell if he landed on his head or not. Somebody go check."  
Harry rolled over and sat up. Collin got it right, that hurt. But they won. Someone reached out a hand to help him up, Harry was standing by the time he realized who it was.  
"Oliver. I-I-I forgot you were coming today."  
"Good game, Harry. Didn't realize you weren't the Captain anymore. Who's she? She's good."  
"Renata? Well, she transferred here last year from the States when her mum became the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I was sort of a jerk, I got a little Quiditch obsessed and-"  
"Worse than me? I still remember how you felt about the early morning Saturday practices in the mud and rain."  
"I think I was worse. The team did too."  
"You can tell me all about it later. I spoke with Dumbledore. Do you want to come with me to the Three Broomsticks? I've arranged for a little reunion with the old team. The twins got time off work and all the girls are coming too."  
"Could I bring Renata?"  
"Sure. Love to meet her. Come on."  
Harry went to get Renata. He found her waiting with Ron and Hermione. Hermione was wearing the cheerleading uniform.  
"So what was all this?" he asked.  
"Well," Renata replied. "Last time you asked if I was a cheerleader or a Quiditch player. I decided this time to take care of the Quiditch part and get someone else to fill in as cheerleaders. Right, Hermione?"  
"Uh-huh."  
"So, who was leading them down here?"  
"Rory. Who would you expect? So what did Mr. Old-Captain over there think? I saw him talking to you."  
"He wants to talk to you actually. He's got a reunion for the old team arranged in Hogsmeade and he said you could come."  
"Alright."  
"What about us?"  
"I forgot to ask. He cleared me going with Dumbledore. I won't get in trouble."  
"Don't worry, Harry. Neither will we. Have fun."  
Renata called back over her shoulder, "Hermione? Could you collect my bet money from Malfoy for me? Thanks."  
"So what was the side bet you were talking about?"  
"I'll tell you later."  
They approached Wood and began to walk to Hogsmeade as they spoke. "Oliver, this is Renata Delano. Renata, this is Oliver Wood."  
"Pleased to meet you," he said shaking her hand.  
"Good to meet you, too."  
"You did a great job out there."  
"Thanks, you should have seen the team Harry had to hand over." She laughed. "I'll tell you about I later. So what have you been doing with yourself? You graduated how long ago?"  
"Three years ago."  
"And?"  
"Well, I'm still playing for Puddlemere United but I'm not on the reserve team anymore. I made the first string."  
"Congratulations!" Harry said, and he meant it. He opened the door as they entered the Three Broomsticks.  
Fred and George stood and shouted, "Three cheers for Gryffindor's finest non-Weasly players!"  
Harry grinned.  
"So how'd the game go?"  
Wood smiled. "Gryffindor smashed Hufflepuff. 200 to nothing."  
"We're impressed, Harry."  
"Good work," said Angelina Johnson.  
"It wasn't me. Renata's the team Captain. She really got the team motivated and taught the new guys how to play."  
"And I started a cheerleading team," nodded Renata.  
  
George asked, "And why didn't you bring them?"  
"Oh, I offered to bring them. They were all for it until I mentioned that the two of you would be here. Then they said they'd rather hang out with the Gryffindor guys. Apparently they're cuter than you two."  
"Oh, that hurts, Renata. Really it does," said Fred.  
Wood laughed, "I'll get the three of us some drinks since the rest of you have yours."  
"What about Rory?"  
"Is she still in the States?"  
"No. She's here on a student exchange program."  
"You should have told her to come."  
"She had to talk to the cheerleaders."  
Harry tried to get the conversation back on track. "So what was the rest of the bet you made with Malfoy?"  
"He lost, right? Please tell me that little creep lost," Katie Bell told her.  
"Oh, he did. And he's going to regret it for a long while." Renata laughed.  
"So tell us about the bet!" Alicia Spinnet asked.  
"After Snape gave me quadruple detention on Friday, Malfoy started one of his speeches. This one was about bet he was collecting for how badly Gryffindor would lose. Last time it was by a hundred and fifty points. Wasn't it, Harry?"  
"Yeah."  
"Well, I said we weren't going to lose. He said the average bet was 3 Sickles that Gryffindor would lose by at least two hundred points. So I bet him 6 Sickles that we'd win by 200. In addition to that we made a little side bet. When Gryffindor won, I would get to shave 'Gryffindor' into the back of his head."  
"And if you lost?"  
"I'd have to get a much shorter haircut, I guess a crew cut or something, and I'd have 'Slytherin' shaved into the back of my head."  
Wood came back to the table and set down the drinks. "So now, what about the power shift here? How did you become Captain?"  
"Harry just didn't prepare the team for the first game, and then he said it was our fault when we lost. He didn't even get the Snitch when it was behind his head."  
"And then?"  
"Well after we lost the game I called a meeting, we suspended him. Then we drew up a contract. I have it if you want to read it." She took it out and as it was passed along the table there were a few chuckles.  
"All this?"  
"Yep. And we made him beg for forgiveness on his knees then gave him the option of a truth or dare before he could rejoin the team. You never picked, you know."  
"And I'm not gonna. That was stupid."  
"Then you have to stay on probation."  
"What were the choices?" asked Fred.  
"I'm not going to say the dare but the truth is just a little public apology at a Quiditch game."  
"No way. I was embarrassed enough at the last game."  
"You mean losing?" asked Wood. "Everyone loses sometimes."  
"If it'd only been that!" Renata roared with laughter. "Harry lost his breakfast all over the field afterward, he got hit in the stomach by a Bludger."  
The door opened and three more people came in.  
"Hey, told you we'd make it," Ron said.  
"Rory, hello," said the twins.  
"Hermione!" Angelina greeted.  
"Hi, Ron," the twins spared him a glance. "Why didn't you bring Ginny?"  
"It's not like we left school by the front door, Fred. She couldn't come."  
"So what's Malfoy saying?"  
"He's so mad! What did you bet him?"  
"He has to get his head shaved so the back says 'Gryffindor'. Pretty good, huh?"  
"Yeah, I'll say, your best one yet," Rory remarked.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Back at the Angel's Academy not only did Ren have the best pranks, but the best bets, too."  
"Has she ever lost a bet?"  
"Well there was this one time."  
"Don't talk about it, Rory," her eyes narrowed and she sounded serious.  
"Why not? It's funny," she teased.  
"It's embarrassing."  
Harry snorted. "You've told enough embarrassing stories about me today. Tell it, Rory."  
"Okay. This'll be fun." She smiled and her eyes shown with mischief. "You remember Dan, right? Well he bet Renata that she couldn't make the Quiditch team in her first year at the Academy. Hardly anyone ever does. It's been, I think, a little over a century and a half since anyone has. Well, of course she lost t he bet and didn't make the team until the next year."  
"But I did talk to the Captain and he said I couldn't be on the team or the reserve team but I got him to let me show up to all the practices and practice with the team."  
"Yeah, and in return you had to be the equipment manager."  
Ron asked, "So what were the stakes?"  
"Well, if Renata won, Dan would have to wear a sign around his neck until the end of the term that said 'Renata Delano is Queen of the World' in bright pink letters and he was going to have to color his hair neon pink."  
"But she lost. What did she have to do?"  
Rory grinned. "The girls in her dorm gave her a makeover and she had to keep it until Christmas break."  
"A makeover?"  
"They put makeup on my face and did my hair everyday. Very annoying."  
"And if they snuck off campus to go to any nearby Muggle towns she had to wear a skirt or a dress instead of jeans."  
"It was miserable."  
"Aw, but you looked so cute," said Rory.  
"Don't even go there. I got back at Dan and every person who thought it was funny that I had to change my appearance so much. The next time I made a bet with Dan, he lost and he did have to wear the sign. And color his hair."  
"For how long?"  
"A month."  
Harry laughed, "I still can't really picture you walking around for that long with makeup and looking all girly. You don't really strike me as a girl-girl." Harry knew he shouldn't have said those last words, it was just too much.  
"See, now you are both going to pay horribly." She said this with a smile but Harry could almost see the wheels of her mind working and plotting something awful.  
"Fred? Don't we have to be back to work 3 minutes ago?"  
"Yeah. You're right. We're late."  
"Ron, Mum wants to know if you're coming home for Christmas. Harry, you're invited too."  
"I don't know."  
"Alright. Bye everyone." The twins walked out the doors; the joke- shop they were working at was just up the street.  
Katie looked at her watch. "Is this the time? We have to leave too."  
"We were going to have lunch with Penelope."  
"It was nice seeing you all." The three girls Apperated away.  
Wood stood up. "I'd better be going as well. Get back to the school soon and keep up the good games. I'll be back if I can." Wood disappeared.  
"Well, I guess we should head back."  
"Harry, you and Renata better go back the regular way. Dumbledore might be watching to make sure you come back."  
"Right. See you in the Common Room." * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
They got back to the Common Room and of course Ron and Hermione weren't there yet. They and Rory had to take a secret passageway back to the school and it took longer that way.  
"Harry, I want to show you something before the others get back." Renata took a letter out of her pocket and sat down in one of the chairs. She looked almost meek as she told him, "You might want to sit down too. You aren't going to be happy about this. I know you won't be happy about it."  
"What is it?"  
"Here. Take it. Read it. Save yourself time and don't get mad until you've read the whole thing. The whole thing, mind you. It will save time later." She held out the letter for him to take and he immediately snatched it from her outstretched hand.  
Harry's eyes widened in surprise as he read the letter.  
  
November 11, 1996  
Dear Renata,  
As always it's good to hear from you, I only wish you'd  
spoken about this sooner. This is a serious matter. I'm not  
going to tell anyone but YOU SHOULD. People's lives hang in the  
balance here, more than you know. And if THAT boy dies, well,  
one wizard phrased it this way, "When HE dies all hell will  
break lose." This is serious. I know you've never cared much  
about destiny but it exists. If he dies there will be serious  
and dangerous consequences, he's not supposed to die yet. Find  
out who's threatening him and do it soon. I don't know how much  
longer you have. The prophecies of old don't wait until the end  
of the world to come true, you know. My advice to you is to try  
and find out who is writing these threatening messages. Do it  
however you can, if I were you and get someone to help. Several  
someones. But be CAREFUL. This is dangerous. Whoever is writing  
these messages isn't going to lie low for long and he probably  
wouldn't have a problem killing anyone.  
Love,  
Mom  
Harry wasn't angry per say, he was numb. He didn't know what to think. The first words that came out of his mouth were, "I told you not to say anything. To anybody."  
"No, you didn't. You said you didn't want me to say anything to Dumbledore or any of the teachers here, or to Ron or Hermione. Those were your words. My mom's not a teacher here. Not anymore anyway. So what are you going to do? I suggest we make a list of suspects."  
"Suspects?" he sputtered. "The entire Slytherin house. And I don't know who else."  
"Snape?"  
"I think he's on Dumbledore's side. Don't do anything, Renata, please. This is my business so stay out of it."  
"Harry, you don't have one stinking scrap of control over what I do. I'm merely asking your opinion."  
"Just stay out of my life."  
"Tough luck. I'm here. And, I'm staying. I'll talk to you later. Don't forget our little chat." She took back the letter and got up. She headed toward the portrait. "Ron! Wait up, I want your help."  
"With what?"  
"Malfoy. He lost the bet. It's time he paid up. I've got a razor. You wanna pin his arms down?"  
"Sure!"  
"No hitting him though. That wasn't part of the deal." She performed a Calling Charm. "Excellent. He should be standing just outside the castle by the time we get there. Bye, Hermione."  
They left and Harry couldn't hear anymore of what was being said. He didn't want to hear more.  
Harry refused to talk to Renata for several days, nearly a week. But he couldn't help but laugh on Monday when he saw Malfoy in Potions. That had cost Gryffindor 10 points, but it was worth it. 


	16. Guilty

On Friday, Harry finally spoke to Renata again. "Listen, I know you want to help but I want you to stay out of this. I'll figure it out on my own. You have to stay out of this. You could get hurt."  
They were walking down the hallway.  
"No. And you should at least clue Ron and Hermione in."  
"And why's that? They'll be happier not knowing."  
"And would you be happier not knowing?"  
"No. If someone wants to kill me I should know about it."  
"Exactly. So why can't Ron and Hermione know when someone wants to kill them?"  
Harry couldn't answer.  
"Harry, when they find out they are going to be furious that you didn't tell them sooner."  
"But I'm not going to tell them."  
"Oh, right. Well, they are going to be even madder because you knew and they didn't hear it from you."  
"You said you wouldn't tell."  
"Desperate times call for desperate measures. I have to break that promise." She walked away.  
Harry stood there and heard footsteps behind him.  
"Shouldn't you be getting back to your house, boy? Not wise to be out and about these days at night. People get hurt."  
"What are you talking about? There haven't been any attacks since September."  
"You never know, they didn't catch whoever it was that caused the attacks. So my advice to you is to be careful. G'night."  
"'Night." The man walked away and when he was out of earshot Harry said, "That was weird." The man was the caretaker they'd hired to help out Filch. Strange, a cat was following him. Not Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, but another one, one Harry didn't recognize.  
When Harry went to his dorm room that night, Ron asked quietly, "Why didn't you tell us, Harry? Did you think we couldn't handle it?"  
"I didn't think that. I just didn't want you to worry."  
"Harry! You get a note saying someone wants to kill us all and you 'don't want us to worry'! You're crazy. Honestly. What is wrong with you? Did someone drop you on your head when you were a baby or something? I can't believe this!"  
"Come on, you were depressed enough that night. You want me to have added to your misery?"  
"Harry, this is more important than that. If I died before I found out, what would you have thought?"  
"I would have blamed myself."  
"Exactly. And why?"  
"Because you didn't know there was a threat."  
"What if Hermione had died?"  
"I don't want to think about this!" He was angry, and he found a few hot tears running down his face. He seldom cried. He was glad the room was dark. He was mad but who was he mad at? The person that wrote the note? Renata for telling Ron and Hermione about the note? No. He was mad at himself for not telling them himself.  
"So what do you have to say, Harry? Anything? Anything at all?"  
"I'm SORRY! Okay! I'm SORRY," he said this bitterly.  
"That won't be good enough when we're all dead you know," Ron told him. He left, slamming the door behind him.  
Harry didn't care. He threw himself on his bed bitterly and began to finish crying, something he hardly ever did.  
  
An announcement was made that morning at breakfast, "Today will be a Hogsmeade day! Everyone third year and above who has a guardian signed permission slip may go into the village today. Have fun!" Harry didn't want to go into the village. He felt awful. His stomach and his head hurt, he was dizzy.  
"This'll be great!" Ron said. "They canceled every other time this year. I really have to get to Zonkos. Whaddaya think? First stop, Harry?"  
"I'm not going."  
Ron lowered his voice, "Listen, Harry, if this is about last night, forget it. I'm not mad about that."  
"It's not that." In the morning when Harry got down to the common room Hermione gave him a speech that reminded him of the one Ron gave the night before. He felt awful. He had a throbbing headache.  
Hermione looked at him, concerned. "Is it about what I said?"  
"No. I just really don't feel well."  
"Well, if you want to stay we can't make you come. Is there anything we can get for you?" asked Hermione.  
Harry thought about it and wrote a quick list and handed it and some money to Hermione. "Thanks. I'm going back to my room now. 'Kay?" He left and headed back up to Gryffindor Tower. Harry was still in bed when Ron and the others came back from Hogsmeade. He'd spent most of the day there. His stomach still hurt and he'd spent half the time asleep.  
"Harry?" Ron opened the door. "Here's the bag of stuff you asked Hermione for." He dropped it at the end of Harry's bed. "Are you okay?"  
"Not really."  
Ron stuck his hand out and felt Harry's head. "You're burning up. Let's get you out of here."  
"Why?" He didn't want to move anywhere. Ever.  
"Why? You're going to get all of us sick if you stay. Besides, I bet Madam Pomfrey will have something to make you feel better."  
Harry didn't really pay attention as Ron led him to the infirmary. "Madam Pomfrey?"  
"Yes? What is it? That boy looks awful. Bring him here."  
"I think he's got the flu."  
"Yes, yes, he's burning up. Come lie down on the bed so I can take your temperature. That will be all, Mr. Weasley. This should just be a twenty-four hour bug if I'm not mistaken."  
"Good."  
"Here. Take some tonic." She gave him a goblet purple liquid. "I'll be back in here to check on you in a bit. Get some rest. You'll be good as new in the morning."  
Harry fell asleep and didn't wake up until Madam Pomfrey brought him some dinner.  
"Eat. You need your strength."  
"I'm not hungry."  
"I'll tell you what. When that plate is empty, I'll let your friends in. Deal?"  
"Okay." Harry started eating and twenty minutes later Ron, Hermione, and Renata were in the room.  
"What took so long?"  
"Listen, we can't stay. We just wanted to stop by and say goodnight."  
"Wait, don't leave."  
"Why?"  
  
"I'm feeling better. I'm bored. I need someone to talk to."  
"You need rest. We are leaving."  
"But you're all staying for Christmas break, aren't you?"  
"Yes, we are, Harry. Now get some rest. We don't want you back until you aren't going to infect the whole Tower. Comprende?"  
"Huh?"  
She sighed. "Do you understand?"  
"Yeah. Goodbye." * * * * * * * * * * * * * ********************************** The next morning Harry left the hospital. It was only a few days until Christmas and he still had to wrap the presents Hermione had picked up for him. 


	17. Fun and Surprises on the 25th

Harry woke up on Christmas morning to find a pile of presents at the foot of his bed. He'd risen early despite the fact that he'd been up late looking at pictures of his parents. Ron had a similar pile at the end of his bed.  
"Happy Christmas, Harry."  
"Happy Christmas, Ron." They began to open their presents.  
Most years, they had the room to themselves on the holidays, not this year. Anthony was staying, too; but as per his usual pattern, he was still asleep.  
Harry picked up his presents. "Come on. Let's go see the girls. We don't want them here if he wakes up."  
Ron nodded, and grabbed his presents. They slipped out and went down the stairs, then up the girls' stairs. They stopped at the door that said SIXTH YEAR. Hermione and Renata had the room to themselves during the break.  
"Happy Christmas!"  
"Happy Christmas!"  
"Happy Christmas!"  
"Merry Christmas!"  
They all sat on separate beds and opened their presents. Ron looked around distractedly. "I don't think we've been in here before."  
Hermione laughed, "Of course not. You're not allowed in here. We're not allowed in your room either. We only go in to visit you on Christmas."  
Harry started opening his presents. As usual he received meat pies and a new handmade sweater from Mrs. Weasly. This year's was green with a red and gold lion on it; Mrs. Weasly liked green on him because she said it brought out his eyes. From Ron Harry got a box Filbusters No-Heat, Wet- Start Fireworks. Hermione had given him a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, and some more enchanted paper that worked with the Live-Write Spell. When they say every flavor, they meant every flavor. Renata gave him a book about magical medicine. When he held it up she grinned and said it was exactly what he needed; it might prevent at least some of his time in the hospital.  
Renata looked down at Harry's gift to her, "Flowers! How sweet. Thank you." She looked like she meant it.  
Harry found a note that said Don't pull another stunt this summer. They were referring to his little prank against Dudley the summer before. Harry noticed one present that was usually in his pile was missing: nothing from Sirius. Harry quickly realized why this was.  
"Ron. I think we'd better be getting back."  
"Why?"  
"Because, I think Sirius was going to come see me this morning!"  
"Sirius? See you.? Oh! We've got to get back to our room."  
Harry got up and was about to open the door when Renata came and hurled herself at it. "Are you crazy? Step away from door. Back." She stuck her head out the door. "See? Three girls walking down the stairs. What if they saw you?" She kept the lookout. "Doesn't look like anyone will see you. Both of you, quick, back to your room." She practically pushed them out the door. "We'll see you, later."  
Harry and Ron ran down the stairs and back up the stairs to their room. They had just sat down on their beds as Anthony woke up.  
"Good morning." He yawned. "Joyeux Noël."  
"Happy Christmas."  
"Happy Christmas."  
Anthony then diverted his attention to his presents. Three minutes later Sirius came in.  
"Happy Christmas, boys."  
"Happy Christmas, Sirius."  
Sirius looked over at Anthony and lowered his voice as he spoke to Harry and Ron, "I came in about twenty minutes ago and you weren't here."  
"Er- bathroom."  
"Yeah, we wanted to brush our teeth before you came in."  
Sirius raised his eyebrow. His voice got quieter still. "Brushing your teeth? I waited in here for ten minutes. I saw you come down the other staircase."  
There were no excuses left. "We had to say good morning to Hermione and Renata."  
"We always see them Christmas morning and they couldn't come see us here because of him." Harry inclined his head slightly in Anthony's direction.  
"I understand that. I know you wanted to see your friends but next time, a little more caution. I'll see you boys later. Have a good morning. And don't go back in there. And don't lie to me like that, tell me the truth the first time I ask, not when you run out of possible truths."  
"Okay. Bye, Sirius. I'll see you later."  
"Alright, Harry, Ron."  
As soon as Sirius was out of the room, Anthony asked, "What was that about?"  
"Nothing," Ron answered hastily.  
"That's not true."  
Harry thought fast. "You caught us. We were planning to play a prank on Dumbledore, today. Sirius found out and said he'd give us detention if we went through with it."  
"What was it?"  
"Er-"  
Ron answered, "We learned this great mind trick. You can make people think things, er, hypnosis. We were going to hypnotize him and make him think he came out to the Christmas Feast in is underwear."  
"Oh. That seems very childish."  
"I thought it was funny," Ron told him.  
"So did I," Harry added.  
"I'm leaving. I've got to go wish Hermione a Joyeux Noël." Anthony got dressed, combed his hair and made sure every strand was in place, and went downstairs.  
As soon as he was gone, Harry and Ron started laughing.  
"Nice thinking."  
"I was going to say the same to you."  
"How'd you come up with it?" asked Harry.  
"What you said made me remember a book George read-"  
"George read a book? One he didn't have to read?"  
"Yeah, I know. Fred, too. It was called The Greatest Pranks in Hogwarts History."  
They got dressed and went to the common room. Hermione and Renata were waiting.  
"Sirius knows we were there."  
"Doesn't matter," Renata said.  
"Let's get some breakfast and then we can go have a snowball fight," Ron said.  
"It'll be weird without your brothers, Ron."  
"Yeah, don't tell them this the next time you see them, but I sort of almost miss them."  
They met Ginny down in the Great Hall.  
"Hi, Ginny."  
"Hello, Hermione. Hi, Harry. Are-" She was distracted by someone behind them. "I've got to go. Collin wants to talk to me. I'll see you all later." She hurried to the other end of the table.  
Ron looked at Harry. "Obviously you've been replaced."  
Later they had a great time at their annual snowball fight. Ron and Harry were against Hermione and Renata. Things were going great for the boys until Renata put a magic created body double in her place and snuck around and came up behind Harry and Ron, dropping snow down the collar of their shirts.  
The boys gave slight screams  
Renata and Hermione laughed then and laughed again later that day and any other time they thought about the fight. ************************************************  
The Christmas Feast was a blast. There were crackers and food and fun. When you pulled a cracker it went off with a blast like a cannon. Harry opened three and found a new set of Gobstones, a box of Honeydukes chocolate, and a little wind up toy drummer boy that walked around the table in circles tapping out well known Christmas carols.  
Suddenly sleepy from too much food, Harry excused himself from the table. He wandered off into the corridor and was about to start up the staircase when he suddenly found Renata behind him.  
"Merry Christmas, Harry."  
"Happy Christmas, Renata." He noticed she had turned her eyes to the ceiling and followed her gaze. Mistletoe was floating in the air about six inches above his head. How had that gotten there? It was revolving too. How odd. "Er.about your terms for letting me back on the Quiditch team. About that one part.to apologize or." He didn't know how to continue. He slowly leaned forward, and blushing with embarrassment, he kissed her. It was his first real kiss-though Hermione had kissed his cheek once at the end of their fourth year-and he later realized it wasn't really all that bad, in fact he rather enjoyed it. He didn't say anything after though and he just backed away, he didn't know what to say or if he should say anything, but he waited only a few seconds before he decided to quickly continued up the stairs. Not looking back. He reached the Tower quickly but the Fat Lady in the portrait wasn't there. He thought about going back downstairs and thought better of it. He was surprised that Renata hadn't followed him up the rest of the way. He wondered briefly about what he'd done just done. Nothing wrong, he'd just kissed her. But he'd liked it. He wanted to kiss her again. But they were just friends. That would never change; he didn't want it to change. Harry waited perhaps twenty minutes before the Fat Lady came back and he was able to say the password for her to open the way into the Tower.  
Harry sat in the chair by the fire and began to doze. When his friends came in he was just waking up from his nap. Ron, Renata, and Hermione came in together.  
"Hullo, Ron," Harry yawned. "I dunno about you but I'm tired." He kept his eyes away from Renata, focusing only on Hermione and Ron.  
"You look tired, Harry. Did you get enough rest last night?" asked Hermione.  
"Not really. I was looking at my photo album. I was up for a long time. Nobody else is tired?"  
"No."  
"I'm not."  
"Not me."  
"Well I am, so I'll see you in the morning." He made his way to the dorm.  
Renata called to him, "See you in the morning!"  
His cheeks had turned red again and he was glad no one could see them. *********************************************8  
Harry spent the next few days hiding from Renata, not exactly hiding, but rather avoiding her. The last night before school was going to resume Ron finally asked him about his avoiding Renata.  
"Harry, what's wrong?"  
"What are you talking about?"  
"Don't play dumb, Harry. You were never very good at it anyway. Ever since Christmas you've been treating Renata as if she's poison or something. You won't even stay in the same room as her for long. What's the matter? Did the two of you have a fight or something and not tell us?"  
"No, that's not it." The truth was Harry never talked Renata about the fact that he'd just kissed her without warning, without even asking. He was worried that she'd be mad at him. But soon he'd have to face the music because they'd be in class together.  
"Then what is it?" he seemed completely puzzled.  
Harry waited a while before answering. He listened carefully to his friends' breathing to make sure the rest of them were asleep before he answered. "D'you remember when we got in that big fight after the Quiditch game Gryffindor lost?"  
"Yeah."  
"You swear you won't repeat this?"  
"What's the deal here, Harry?"  
"Ron."  
"Oh, okay. I won't."  
"Now, you remember the terms of agreement for me to rejoin the team?"  
"Yeah.?"  
"One of them was that I either had to make a public apology, or take the alternative choice."  
"And the other choice was that you had to kiss a girl over Christmas break." His eyes widened. "Did you kiss my sister? You did! And Renata saw you! Didn't she? That's what this is about. Isn't it?"  
"No! Keep it down, will you?" He glanced around nervously at the other beds. "Don't wake them."  
"Okay so tell me what happened. I'm sure it's no big deal."  
"I kissed her."  
"Her?" He said, not comprehending. "Oh! You mean.not.Renata? Renata?"  
Harry nodded weakly.  
"Really? I can't believe you did that. I wish I coulda seen her reaction. She hit you, didn't she? That's why you've been avoiding her."  
"No. I kinda just ran off."  
"Why?"  
"I dunno. I guess I thought she would hit me, or curse me."  
"If I was you I'd be scare right about now. So what happened?"  
"Well, I left the table early on Christmas day, and Renata caught up with me at the stairs. There was mistletoe floating over my head, not really sure how it got there, and I figured it was sort of a now or never kind of thing." I think I may have actually wanted to kiss her. No!  
The last thing that Harry heard before falling asleep was Ron telling him, "You've got guts, Harry. I don't want to be in your shoes come class time tomorrow."  
To Harry's surprise, Renata acted as though nothing had happened. She didn't bring it up and acted as though everything were perfectly normal. A small part of Harry's mind was disappointed at this but he quickly dismissed this thought with the relief that no revenge would be coming his way from her.  
There was only one result of what had happened. After Charms on Tuesday Renata asked Harry if he would walk in the hall with her. He was a little nervous, now she was going to explode. He knew it. They walked in silence for a few minutes, until Harry thought his nerves would burst. He'd never been the most patient of people.  
"Whatever you want just say it and get it over with!"  
"Well, I just wanted to let you know that I think you are a jerk too stupid to know when you are wrong and when you do know you're too arrogant to apologize."  
Not what he was expecting. "If you're mad about Christmas, I-"  
She rounded on him, stopping dead in her tracks, inches from his face, and glaring at him. "Don't flatter yourself, Harry, why would I care about that? My point is that you would rather do something you really don't want to do, rather than admit to people that you were wrong. Pig." She spat on his shoe before turning to go. About 3 yards away she shouted back to him, "Probation is over. Full team rights. And Captain rights as long as you don't mess up again."  
Only when Renata was out of earshot did Harry speak again. "But I did want to do that."  
No more was said by either of them on the subject.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Told you he didn't hate her! 


	18. Drakey

Classes were back in full swing and Harry couldn't shake the impression that someone was watching him. He just didn't know who. Lupin didn't come back after the break. Apparently word got out to the parents that the werewolf was back in Hogwarts and they threatened Dumbledore or the school one way or another. Some old man replaced Lupin. There was still no word from Hagrid. Harry was starting to get concerned.  
"How is he doing?"  
"I don't know, Harry. No one has heard from him. Not since midsummer or earlier," Sirius told him.  
"It's not fair!" Harry stalked out of Sirius's study. He was going to confront Dumbledore directly about this.  
He passed by the slightly open door of a classroom and heard voices. He crept closer to listen. Eavesdropping was a bad habit but one he made no effort to break.  
"Give it back!" came a little girl's voice.  
"No. I think we'll keep it."  
"I think you're right."  
"No! Give it back! Please!" cried the little girl.  
Harry peaked in and saw a little girl, maybe a first or second year standing in the middle of a group of boys who were throwing a doll back and forth over her head. Harry was about to go and help her when a door at the other end of the room opened and Draco Malfoy came out.  
"Give that back to her right now. Or else."  
"Or else what?"  
"Or else you'll regret it." He took out his wand and began cursing the boys one by one, by the second boy the other boys dropped the doll and ran out.  
"Tracy, if they hurt you I'm going to-"  
"I'm okay, Drakey. Thanks." She picked up her doll, hugged it, and then hugged Draco.  
"Are you sure you're alright, Trace? I'll get them if you aren't."  
"I'm fine, Drakey. Thank you. Will you take me to the kitchens for some ice cream? Strawberry?"  
"Okay, Trace. Just wait out there for a minute and I'll come." He pointed to the door he'd come in by.  
Tracy scampered away.  
Harry couldn't help doubling over laughing; he tired to be quiet. He must not have been quiet enough because Malfoy came over to where he was, looking murder at him.  
"Potter," his face went red. "Don't you dare tell a soul what you saw."  
Harry couldn't stop grinning. The thought of Malfoy being kind to anyone was just too much to bear.  
"I mean it!"  
"Drakey? Are you coming?" came the girl's voice.  
"I'll be there in a minute, Tracy. I'm coming." He lowered his voice, "Not one word."  
Harry waited for Malfoy to get out of earshot before he started laughing again. He decided to wait another day before talking to Dumbledore about Hagrid. *************************************************************  
That night Harry found an owl waiting on his bed with a note for him. Meet me in the Trophy room at 11:30, Potter. There wasn't much doubt in his mind as to who had sent this, only has to whether or not he would go. He put the letter in his pocket and went to the common room.  
As he had suspected, Rory was there. She spent a lot more time with the Gryffindors than with the Slytherins she was assigned to. Renata had shown no hesitation in leading her to Gryffindor Tower and keeping her updated on the current password. Just maybe she would have information to help Harry.  
"Er.Hi. Rory, could I talk to you.alone?"  
"Alright."  
He led her over by the windows and away from the others.  
"So what is it?"  
"Well, what do you know about Malfoy and some girl named Tracy. I think she's a first or second year."  
Rory chuckled.  
"What? Did I say something funny?"  
"No, no. It's just that." She started giggling.  
"Is she in Slytherin?" Rory was starting to get very irritating.  
"No, no, no. She's a Hufflepuff. Draco's cousin on his mom's side. The only person anybody knows of that Draco actually cares about. Pansy Parkinson talks about her, sometimes." She imitated Pansy shrill voice, " 'Draco ditched me! He was supposed to meet me in Hogsmeade near the post office but later I saw him with his cousin. She's not even old enough to go to Hogsmeade. He snuck her in.' Yeah. That's about all I know about Tracy. What do you know about her?"  
"Only that Malfoy was standing up for her today when some older boys were bullying her. And Malfoy knows I saw the whole thing."  
"And.?"  
"He wants to meet me late tonight. Probably to threaten me."  
"So?"  
"I'm trying to decide whether or not to go."  
"Go!"  
"It could be a trick. He's done that before."  
"So wear your invisibility cloak and don't take it off until you find out if he's there or not."  
"Alright."  
"Tell you what. I'll stick around here until midnight or so. I'll open the door and you can sneak in. It won't matter that I get back to the Slytherins late. A lot of them are still in the common room then anyway and they know I hang out with the Gryffindors so it doesn't matter anyway."  
"Okay."  
"Go get your cloak. I'll stand by the door."  
Harry trudged upstairs and took out his invisibility cloak and the Marauders' Map. A map of Hogwarts created by his father, Sirius, Lupin, and Pettigrew. It showed where everyone was, little moving dots with labels like "Snape" and "Dumbledore" to show who they were. Harry stuck the map and his wand in his belt and threw the invisibility cloak over him.  
  
He went downstairs and saw Rory by the door. He got a wicked idea and as he crept near her he pinched her to get her attention.  
"Ow!" She saw everyone looking at her. "I, uh, stubbed my foot on the wall." She lowered her voice and muttered fiercely, "I'm going to get you for that, Harry!"  
"Just be here when I come back," he whispered.  
"I will, if you're lucky." She leaned casually on the door "accidentally" opening it.  
Harry made his way as quickly as possible to the trophy room. He got to it at last. Malfoy was waiting, muttering under his breath. The only words Harry caught were "he better be here" and "Where is he?"  
Harry dropped the cloak and hid it behind a cabinet.  
"What do you want, Malfoy?"  
"You showed. I knew you would."  
"How did you know? You wouldn't have come if I'd asked you to. And how'd you know that I wouldn't rat you out to Filch. You've done plenty of rotten stuff to me, you know."  
"I knew you would because you're a decent guy, Potter. And you don't snitch on people."  
"Well, I've got plenty of reason to call Filch right now. I could get out of here without being caught, you couldn't."  
"I know you wouldn't do something like that, Potter. Because you aren't me, you're Saint Potter," he spat the words and continued in his normal tone, "who can do no wrong according to the Headmaster. Now, I'm trying to be civil. Work with me and return the favor."  
Harry just glared at him.  
Malfoy glared back.  
"So, what is this about?"  
"How much did you see today?"  
"All of it from the time you came in the room and told the bullies to leave her alone."  
"What'll it take?"  
"What are you talking about?"  
"How much for your silence, Potter? I can't have something like this ruining my reputation."  
"What reputation?"  
"My reputation as a guy who doesn't care about anybody. I'm a tough guy who swaggers around school with his bodyguards and spouts insults at Gryffindors and bought his way onto the Quiditch team. That's who I am, Potter. I can't have people think I'm anybody else."  
"Tell me about your cousin."  
"She's such a sweet kid, Potter. She's a Hufflepuff. She's only 11. If something ever happened to her.She doesn't belong in the Malfoy family. She's not like us. She's special."  
"Okay, Dra-"  
"Say 'Drakey' and die."  
Harry grinned. "So, no first name basis here. Got it."  
Malfoy narrowed his eyes at him. "So what will it take to keep you quiet?"  
Harry thought about it. "No more jokes about how poor Ron is, or about me being an orphan. Or especially about Hermione being a Muggle-born. She is a witch. You don't tease Hermione, or Ron, or me anymore."  
"What about Renata?"  
Harry laughed. "It's not my fault if you don't stay clear of her and she does something drastic. I am not responsible for her actions. If you say anything to her it's at your own risk."  
To Harry's surprise, Draco chuckled. "You're right about that. Witty and pretty but such a sharp temper; not like those stupid Slytherin girls. Air-heads, the lot of them."  
Harry started to agree. Then he and Draco realized at almost the same instant that they were actually getting along. "So I won't say anything and you'll keep away from my friends?"  
"Deal." He put out his hand for Harry to shake.  
Harry hesitated before shaking it. "I'll see you in class."  
"Sure thing, Potter."  
Harry waited for Draco to turn his back before getting out the invisibility cloak.  
Draco turned around one more time, "Potter, I know you're still here. Don't think I don't know about you invisibility cloak."  
Harry didn't say anything. He only walked away. When he reached Gryffindor Tower it was past midnight. Rory was standing at the portrait of the Fat Lady, holding it open by leaning on it and talking to Nearly- Headless-Nick.  
"Oh, I fell asleep in the common room. I'm going to go back to the Slytherin House so I can go to bed now. It's awfully late." Harry snuck past her. "Would you walk me back to the Slytherin House. I don't want to run into the Bloody Baron by myself. He kind of scares me." Harry looked out the door at her and saw that she was attempting to look meek. He turned to go and heard Nick respond in the affirmative. He went up to the dormitory.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, don't think they're getting too buddy-buddy. 


	19. Torches and Ice Cream

Harry went to the Dining Hall that morning and sought out Rory, he owed it to her to explain how things had gone. He found her and they sat a little apart from the others.  
"So how did it go last night? I want the whole story."  
"He was waiting in the Trophy room for me. He was telling me about how great he thinks his little cousin is. He asked how much it would cost to keep quiet about what he thought about her. He said he didn't want to ruin his reputation as a tough guy." Harry didn't mention how near they'd gotten to an almost enjoyable conversation.  
"See? I told you, you had nothing to worry about."  
"And that was a nice touch last night 'The Bloody Baron scares me'." He laughed.  
"It worked, didn't it?" She laughed. "You know, Malfoy is kind of like you."  
"How is Malfoy anything like me?"  
"Just hear me out. Both of you are stubborn, not too stupid;, you don't ask for help until you are desperate; and whether or not he likes admitting it Malfoy cares about his cousin, kind of like I know you care about a certain Gryffindor girl."  
"No, no. Malfoy and I are completely different."  
She chuckled. "Oh, yeah. Malfoy's cousin is like a sister to him, whereas that Gryffindor girl to you is-"  
"Er.I've got to get to class, Aurora, goodbye." He hastily left the table. Rory was far too insightful for her own good.  
He was early but he waited outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts room all the same. Sirius showed up five minutes before class.  
"Harry, what are you doing here?"  
"I didn't want to stay down there."  
"Something's troubling you. You wanna come in and talk about it with me?"  
Harry shook his head. "Girls know too much."  
Sirius laughed. "They always do. And you'll never get used to it. Come in, everyone will be here soon."  
Reluctantly, Harry followed him inside.  
"Are you sure you don't want to tell me what's on your mind? I'm your godfather. That's what I'm here for, Harry."  
"I'll be alright, Sirius. I just need to sort some things out in my head."  
"Just remember: my door is always open."  
Harry's classmates came in.  
"Welcome class! Today we shall be working with."  
Harry's thoughts drifted inside his head. Renata. The creepy new caretaker that helped Filch. Renata. The revelation that Malfoy had a half- human side. Renata. Before Harry realized it, class was over. What was the homework again? ********************************************************  
The days passed quickly, the cold of winter turning into the cool of spring. January was over and February was beginning. Harry kept many of Renata's attitudes and strategies as far as Quiditch and it was more of a joint Captainship than him alone. He was really only Captain as far as title went now.  
Unfortunate though it was, Malfoy's hair grew out again and the "Gryffindor" that had been there vanished. Strange rumors began to be whispered in the halls.  
"Did you hear?" asked Ron.  
"Hear what?"  
"The Green Flame Torch has been found!"  
"Green Flame Torch?"  
"And stolen!"  
"What's the Green Flame Torch?"  
"Well, there were rumors and stories of a Green Flame Torch from about a thousand years ago, the rumors started showing up about it again a century ago. It was rumored to be able to open gateways to other dimensions. Lost for at least a few centuries rumors about it came back about a hundred years ago. The Daily Prophet just issued a report that it had been found, they didn't say where, but that it was missing again."  
"So what does that mean exactly, Ron?"  
"The Ministry is really anxious to find it. Can you imagine what a Deatheater would do with something like that?"  
"What if one has it?" Harry said anxiously.  
"Exactly. I think that's what happened to Azkaban. It would have taken a lot of power but if someone had found it and worked with a large group they could technically speaking pick Azkaban up and move it to another dimension. Somewhere where we couldn't find it."  
"And our best guess at where Hagrid is.is Azkaban."  
Ron nodded. "If we knew where it was we could go save Hagrid. I already told all of this to Hermione and Renata. They said it sounded right. Hermione's researching the Green Flame Torch in the library right now."  
"Nobody else knows this, right?"  
"Rumors are floating around the school, Harry. Now everybody knows that it's real and that it's missing. Before, it was just myth and legend. But nobody knows that's where Hagrid might be. No one but the four of us at least."  
Harry stood and nodded. "Let's keep it that way." He followed Ron to the library where Hermione and Renata were waiting.  
Hermione sat with an extremely large tome entitled Myths and Legends of the Wizarding World in her lap.  
"Hermione-"  
"Ssh! I'm reading." She spared the boys only a glance before returning to her brisk reading and thumbing through page, there were easily five thousand pages if not more.  
Renata whispered to them, "She's been at this for hours. This book covers everything from the Chamber of Secrets to the Lost Islands of Merlin. The Green Flame Torch is in here somewhere. But we don't know where. There's no particular order. No table of contents. And no index."  
"Did you find any other books about it?"  
"No. This seems to be our only shot. There could be another book but look at the sheer size of this library."  
Ernie Macmillan burst into the library, huffing and puffing as though he'd run the whole way there. "It's Tracey! She's been attacked!"  
Harry's eyebrows shot up and he was among the first to reach Ernie.  
"Sit down and explain what happened," Harry told him, trying to keep patient.  
A girl pulled out a chair and Ernie collapsed into it.  
"Thanks." His breathing was still quick and shallow.  
"What happened, Ernie?"  
"Where is she?"  
"Is she okay?"  
Someone in the back asked, "Who's Tracey?"  
Ernie answered the last question first. "Tracey is this sweet little girl. A first year in Hufflepuff."  
Harry tried to stay calm, "Ernie, where is she?"  
"The hospital wing."  
"Is she okay?" asked Harry anxiously.  
"I don't know," he sighed. "I haven't seen her since she was moved into the hospital by some of the teachers.  
Harry repeated, "What happened to her?"  
"I'm not so sure. I- I- I found her in the hallway. Her head was bleeding. There was a V shaved into the back of her head. I think her arm might have been broken."  
Harry sighed and wasn't sure if he was relieved or not. It sounded pretty much like the attacks they'd had in September, but Harry thought those were over.  
Harry whispered to Ron that he'd be back soon. As much as he hated it he had to see Malfoy, and he knew where he'd be and that he'd be needed.  
Harry found Malfoy in the Trophy room, where he knew he'd be.  
"How'd you find me?" Malfoy asked coldly.  
"Because, you're worried about Tracey but you wouldn't show your face at the hospital."  
"I will. When the rest of them are gone."  
"The latest a visitor can be there is ten o'clock."  
Harry wasn't sure but there might have been gratitude in Malfoy's eyes.  
Harry nodded.  
"Potter, do me a favor. Will you?"  
"Yeah, and what's that?"  
"Check on her and watch out for her for me. Can I trust you to do that? And to keep quiet about it?"  
"I will."  
Malfoy had trouble saying the words but eventually he got it out. "Thank you," he muttered.  
"I'll be back to tell you how she is."  
Malfoy nodded.  
When Harry got to the Hospital Wing a knot of visitors was just leaving and he slipped inside. Tracey was just waking up.  
"Where's Drakey?" she asked weakly.  
Harry tried to soothe her. "Ssh. He'll be here later. Ssh. Don't ask about him and he'll come later. I promise. Ssh. How are you?" Her head was all bandaged up and her arm was in a sling, but beyond that there was nothing else to indicate problems.  
"I'm okay. I want to see Drakey."  
"He'll be here later. Do you remember what happened?"  
"I was walking and then somebody hit me and I woke up here. Do you know who it was?"  
He shook his head.  
"I think it was that scary man."  
There were lots of scary men, who was it? "Was it professor Snape?"  
"No. The one with the cat."  
"Mr. Filch?"  
"No. The other man with the cat."  
The new caretaker! "Be good and I'll bring you some ice cream later. Okay? Strawberry?"  
"Okay." She nodded and fell asleep.  
Harry went back to the Trophy room and found Draco Malfoy pacing.  
"How is she?" he asked sharply.  
"She's fine. She was asking for you. I told her that if she stopped asking you would come later and I'd bring her strawberry ice cream."  
Draco nodded. "You did the right thing, Potter."  
Harry turned to leave.  
"Harry."  
He turned back around.  
Malfoy said, through gritted teeth, "Harry, I owe you one."  
Harry said nothing but acknowledged the remark with a nod. He had to be getting back to the library.  
He found his friends still at the same table.  
"Any luck?"  
"No. Where were you?"  
"I had to go check on something."  
"What?"  
"Nothing."  
"No, you said it was something," persisted Renata.  
"I went to the hospital to see if the attack was linked to the attacks earlier this year."  
"Well?"  
"Well what?"  
"Were they linked?"  
"Yeah. And we have a suspect."  
"Don't keep us waiting!" Renata looked around and lowered her voice. "Well, who is it?"  
"Pip Pumblechook."  
Renata started laughing.  
"What's so funny?" Hermione asked crossly.  
"Nothing. It's just.That's from Great Expectations. Well at least that's the only time I ever heard the name 'Pumblechook' and as for Pip, well that was out of the same book."  
"So what are you saying?"  
"I don't know what I'm saying. It just seems odd. That's all. Just odd."  
By the time Madam Pince closed the library, Anthony had disturbed them twice wanting to talk to Hermione (Ron threatened to give him a black- eye if he came a third time), almost every other person was out of the library, and the three of them still hadn't found anything useful.  
"Hermione, we should be taking turns with this book. You're straining your eyes. What page are you on?"  
"There's no page numbers. If I lose my place I'll have to start over."  
"Here, I'll put this bookmark in. You need to rest your eyes. And we all need rest."  
Harry told them he'd join them in a bit and he went down to the kitchens.  
"Dobby?"  
"Yes, Harry Potter, sir?" The green house-elf had tennis ball sized eyes and wore an odd assortment of clothes with a tea cozy on his head.  
"There's a little girl in the Hospital and I promised to bring her some strawberry ice cream. Could I-"  
Before he could finish the sentence three house-elves wearing dishtowels (like togas) brought a big bowl of strawberry ice cream with a big silver spoon.  
"Is this good, Harry Potter, sir?"  
"Yes, yes, that's plenty. Thank you, Dobby."  
"Dobby has not seen Harry Potter since Christmas when Harry Potter gave him new socks. Socks is Dobby's favoritest clothes."  
"I've got to get the ice cream to the little girl before it melts."  
"Bye, Harry Potter, sir!"  
Harry brought the ice cream to the hospital wing. He went over to the girl's bed, "Tracey, here's your ice cream."  
"Thank you. Drakey didn't come."  
"I saw him in the hall. He's coming."  
"Who are you?"  
"A friend, Tracey. A friend."  
"Bye."  
Harry passed Draco in the hallway as he left, "She's asking for you." 


	20. Anonymous

The next morning Harry found Rory. He needed to talk to her, and it wasn't just about Tracey and Malfoy.  
"Rory, we need to talk."  
"What about, lover boy?" she asked teasingly.  
"Not so loud!" he whispered. "Shut up."  
"Sure thing, Harry. What do you want to talk about?"  
"Come away from them," Harry was sure that Ron, Hermione, and most importantly Renata had not heard any of what Rory had said, but he was taking no chances.  
"So how did things go with Malfoy yesterday when you disappeared from the library?"  
"How did you know that's where I was? I didn't tell the others."  
"They said you vanished and I had a feeling I knew why. Thanks for confirming my suspicions."  
He'd been caught by another one of Rory's tricks: a question that doesn't sound like a question! He'd have to watch out. "So how did you know?"  
She thought for a minute. "You mean how did I know about how you feel about Ren? That's easy."  
"Well?"  
She grinned. "I see the way you stare at her for one thing."  
"I don't stare at her," he said, his face turning red.  
"Sure you don't." She rolled her eyes. "Next, you avoided her most of the holiday break after Christmas, as though something awkward had happened. You gave her flowers for Christmas. That was really sweet. A true gentleman, really. You endure her teasing and jokes, stuff I know you wouldn't put up with for just anybody."  
"But she treated Dan, Joe, and Tim the same way," he pointed out. "And they didn't stop being friends with her."  
"Oh, please. Ren never knew it but they were a little sweet on her for a while. Eventually it became like she was there sister but for a while." She grinned, "They liked her. I know they did. Ren just didn't recognize it because she thought that those three liked Ellie instead. They did, actually. But her too, for a long while." Her smile suggested she thought the entire thing was very funny and that she knew more than Harry, which she probably did.  
Harry didn't say anything.  
"So? Did anything happen over Christmas?"  
Harry muttered under his breath.  
"What stupid dare? The one that was going to get you back on the Quiditch team? I should have known." She looked like she was trying very hard not to laugh.  
"Cut it out. They'll see you and want to know what's the matter."  
"Not likely. Everybody's watching Ren and Ron play Chess. Hey! Ren is winning. Let's go watch," she immediately grabbed his hand and pulled him out of his seat and across the room with her.  
The spectators seemed to consist of two groups: one rooting for Ron, the other for Renata. Hermione seemed unable to decide who she wanted to win. Harry was in much the same dilemma, in the end he picked Ron. Picking Ron just about evened out the numbers and from there he could see Renata. Though this last reason was just a plus, not the main reason. Ron was his best friend. *******************************************************  
A week passed and each night one of the four of them took turns reading from Myths and Legends of the Wizarding World. It was to no avail. They couldn't find a thing.  
It was Saturday and they were walking down the hall together discussing their problems.  
"I know it's in the book somewhere," Hermione insisted. "I know it is. We just need time to find out where. More time!"  
"We'll find it, Hermione," said Ron gently. "We've got to, for Hagrid."  
"But it must be in here."  
Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw someone tailing them. He had an idea of who it was, but he didn't say anything about the mysterious footpad.  
Renata said vehemently, "The blasted Green Flame Torch. I can't believe it! It exists. And now it's probably in the hand of Darkfriends, I mean Deatheaters. Sorry, I've been reading to much Robert Jordan lately. And I want to know how Pumblechook fits in with all this. It doesn't make sense!" ********************************************************  
Sunday morning, Harry received mail from one of the school owls. It was a nondescript envelope. He opened the envelope to find a page torn that had been torn out of a book.  
  
The first mentions of the Green Flame Torch date back to Morgan le Fay  
around a thousand years past. Speculation says that she made it but it  
was eventually stolen from her or given by her to Nimue who later  
imprisoned Merlin. Some theories suggest that Merlin was not actually  
contained within the tree or transformed into it but was actually at  
the site transported to another dimension. In this dimension it is  
believed his powers did not work (or had possibly been absorbed by the  
Green Flame Torch) and he was the only person there. Many other such  
dimensions are believed to exist and are spoken of in ancient texts  
though because the Green Flame Torch has been missing for so long none  
is certain of their existence.  
  
On the bottom of the page was scribbled,  
  
Pumblechook tortures Muggles, Mudbloods, and Pure-Bloods alike. His real name is Lars Liechtenstein. He may be mentally unstable and can only partly control his magic. He was expelled from Hogwarts 48 years ago.  
My Debt is Paid  
  
This was exactly the sort of thing they needed. Only, how was he supposed to explain his information to the others without revealing his source?  
"Harry? What's that?" Ron asked.  
"Oh. Anonymous letter. But I think it's what we need. There must have been somebody following us yesterday when we were talking." Harry tore the last line from the paper. There would be no way to explain that to his friends. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Renata passed the letter around. Harry was relieved that none of them appeared to recognize Malfoy's writing on the bottom part.  
Hermione bit her lip. "I want to know what book this came from. I'm going to the library."  
Ron volunteered, "I'll join you."  
Renata nodded. "Harry and I will be along in a few minutes."  
"Okay. " Ron and Hermione left.  
"Walk with me, Harry. We'll take the longer way to the library."  
Harry stood. "No, er, we should just follow them."  
"I don't think so. You're coming with me." She took his arm and pulled him along. He offered little resistance. Her grip was like a vice and he couldn't leave if he wanted to. If.  
"So why is it that Malfoy helped get this information?"  
Harry's eyes widened. "What are you talking about?"  
"Don't play dumb, Harry. You're not very good at it. You know what I'm talking about. I recognized Malfoy's writing at the bottom of the page. And I know he heard our conversation yesterday."  
He didn't respond.  
"I'm waiting, Harry. I've got all day." She pulled him to the ground and held on to his arm even more tightly. "See? You aren't going anywhere until you tell me."  
"Just a matter of solving a debt."  
"What debt?"  
"I'm not telling you. You'll laugh."  
"At him or at you? At you, I'm sure." The silence stayed for nearly five minutes. "Okay. Um, you're not talking, that must mean it would have embarrassed him and not you. If it were you, you would have cracked by now. You're a good guy, Harry. Won't even embarrass an enemy. We all know Malfoy deserves it. So, not even a hint about what he did wrong?"  
"He didn't do anything wrong, not this time. Once in a while he's an almost half-decent person."  
"So that's it, you caught him in an act of kindness." She studied his face. Finally she said, "The Tracey girl. That's it. So what about her?" she ended in a mutter. She took out her wand and recited the spell for minding reading.  
Harry didn't like this one bit. He could almost feel her probing in his mind, searching for what she was looking for. Finally it was over. He wished she hadn't become so adept at this spell.  
"Hmm. Interesting. Apparently Malfoy is an almost half-decent guy. Helping Tracey when those boys were picking on her. So that's where you disappeared when we were researching in the library. You're a nice person, Harry." She smiled. She seemed like she meant it.  
"So, will you let go of my arm?" He wasn't going to admit that it was starting to go numb.  
"Oh. Right. Sorry." She looked like she may have been blushing the tiniest bit but the lighting was bad it and it was hard to tell. She let go of him. "Come. We've got to go help Ron and Hermione."  
Harry nodded and followed her, wondering what else she'd read in his mind. "I hate that."  
"What?" she asked this as though she'd done nothing wrong.  
"You read my mind before and I told you not to do that!"  
"Well I wouldn't have to if you'd just say what's going on, it's so obvious! If you think I'm blind and deaf Harry James Potter you are very much mistaken." She'd gotten angry and said his name as though it were a single word, and a swearword at that.  
They were silent until they reached the library as they stepped inside Renata whispered furiously, "Not one word!" She put on a big smile. "Hi, Ron, Hermione. Any luck so far?"  
"No. Not a clue what book it came from."  
"I looked at the letter again," Renata told them. "I.didn't recognize the writing. Sorry."  
"That's okay, Renata. You tried. Let's look for more books. I'll start on this shelf. You take that one. And Harry, start over there."  
  
It was after classes on Tuesday and Harry passed Sirius in the hall.  
"Harry, how are you?"  
"Fine. I'm fine." He kept walking.  
Sirius backtracked to Harry and took his arm. "Are you sure?"  
"Yeah."  
"Harry, you've been a bit distracted in class lately."  
"No, I haven't."  
"Yes, you have. I've seen you. Half the time you're daydreaming and the rest of the time you're looking at a certain Gryffindor girl." Sirius grinned.  
"No, I'm not." Harry felt his face go red and he tried to look away. If Sirius and Rory had noticed who knew who else had?  
"Yes, you have. Valentine's is just around the corner. Tomorrow." He grinned again. "You should tell her how you feel. I've seen some of the other boys around the school looking at her. Apparently you aren't the only one who thinks she is special."  
"What if she only wants to be friends, Sirius? Then, if I say something I look like an idiot."  
"There's only one way for you to find out, Harry. More likely than not I think it'll have a happy ending."  
  
That night Harry tried to right a letter, or rather a Valentine's Card for Renata.  
  
-------------------------------  
You're pretty.  
You're smart.  
You're a Quiditch player.  
And you're a complete pain in the neck.  
Maybe that's why I like you so much.  
The truth is, I can't tell you who I am.  
Cause you terrify me.  
That's all for now.  
-------------------------------  
  
Harry didn't think his card was very good. And what he wrote could hardly be called poetry. But it was what it was. But he was not going to tell her it was from him. And he wasn't going to tell his friends he wrote it at all. He'd send it through a school owl. That was anonymous enough. He took it to the Owlery before he went to sleep and he hoped he wouldn't regret it in the morning. 


	21. Valentine's Day

Down at the breakfast table, Harry waited anxiously for the mail to arrive. He saw an owl land in front of Renata.  
"What's that?" asked Ron.  
"It's from a secret admirer. 'Renata, I like you, I like you a lot, I can't keep my eyes off you.' Interesting." She set it down. Soon, she had a pile of five or six and she still hadn't gotten his.  
Finally he saw the owl that had his. Harry prayed she wouldn't recognize the writing.  
Renata said, "Okay, and this one says, 'You're pretty. You're smart. You're a Quiditch player. And you're a complete pain in the neck. Maybe that's why I like you so much. The truth is, I can't tell you who I am.Cause you terrify me. That's all for now'. Me? How do I scare anybody?"  
Harry and Ron both turned to each other, nodding and laughing.  
Harry looked again at the pile of Valentines in front of Hermione, almost as many as Renata had gotten. The number of cards received by both astounded Harry and he was sure Ron thought the same.  
The boys helped Hermione and Renata gather their cards and walked with them to Defense Against the Dark Arts.  
They were nearly there when Harry got the funny feeling someone was watching them. He turned and saw no one.  
Renata asked, "What's the matter, Harry?"  
"Nothing. It's just.nothing." They weren't more than a few steps further when Harry heard a harsh voice shout something that sounded like a spell.  
Harry and the others barely had time to turn and see the man carrying a torch before it happened. The torch was huge and rather than made of ornately carved and decorated gold, with green jewels on it. The flames were a thousand shades of green. It seemed as though a swirling hole of green so dark as to almost be black opened. It grew and began to pull them nearer.  
"Renata! Ron! Hermione! Grab hands!" Harry tried to find a grip on the wall or on something with his left hand. Renata took his right hand. I don't know what's going to happen but I will not let her die! He found a grip on the stone wall but it was beginning to slip. "I can't hold on!" The wind whistled past his ears. He would not let go of her unless he could get her clear of.of whatever it was that was pulling them.  
The hard, rough stone was tearing at his flesh. He couldn't keep his grip. His hand was wet with blood. He lost his grip entirely. "No!" He lost his grip and first Ron, then Hermione and Renata, and lastly himself were sucked in through the hole. With a last, determined effort, Harry grabbed the leg of the man with the torch pulling him through the circle or portal or whatever it was, too.  
To Harry it seemed they swirled in green nothingness for an eternity. Harry and the others hit the ground with a hard thud. They seemed to still be at Hogwarts. Exactly where they'd been before the man with the torch showed up. Harry didn't want to get up. His head hurt. He was vaguely aware of Pumblechook running off, still carrying the torch. The Green Flame Torch.  
Harry realized this with such a suddenness that he sat up and immediately had to lie down. His head hurt and he was dizzy.  
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Renata. He couldn't tell if she was breathing or not. He fought his nausea and sat up until he could see her better. He crawled to her. "Don't be dead. Don't be dead. Don't be dead," he whispered. "I won't lose you." She had a pulse but she didn't look like she was really breathing, if she was, it was too shallow for him to be able to tell.  
Harry wracked his brain, trying to find an answer. He had it. Years ago, before Hogwarts, his health class at the Muggle school he had gone to had covered CPR. Harry tilted Renata's head back, pinched her nose, and began to blow air in to her mouth. He watched for two seconds to see if she breathed. No response. He tried again. This wasn't working, what was the next step? Oh, right. Pump her heart. She had to breathe. Fifteen pumps, two breaths. Harry began to worry he'd done something wrong. It'd been nearly a minute. Maybe he hadn't gotten up soon enough. He heard someone stir behind him but he could only help one person at a time.  
At last, Renata began to cough. Harry had his face poised above hers for another breath.  
"What are you doing?" she said weakly.  
"I just saved your life. Stay there and don't die. I've got to check on Ron and Hermione." He turned and went to Ron and Hermione. Hermione seemed fine, she was sitting up, but Ron was still out.  
"Is he okay?" he asked.  
"He hit his head on the wall. Help me get him leaning against the wall. I know some Healing. If our magic works here." Harry and Hermione eased Ron up against the wall. "Check on Renata, Harry. I think I know how to heal Ron. He might be sore later and he might still have a nasty bump on his head, but he'll be alive. That's what is important."  
Harry turned his attention to Renata.  
She was trying to sit up and only manage to lean on her elbows, and she still looked like she was going to fall again.  
"Here. Let me help you." He took her by her shoulders and backed her up so she could lean on a wall. "Are you okay?"  
"I think so. What did you do?" She looked like she was trying to smile.  
"Er.CPR. You weren't breathing, Ren. I didn't know what else to do. I didn't want you to.I took a health class in school and they taught us. I never thought I'd have to use it."  
"Yeah, well there was a time when you never thought you'd discover witches and wizards were real." She looked at him. "You didn't let me go."  
"Of course not."  
"You called me 'Ren'." She smiled.  
"Harry, I've got Ron awake. I think he'll be all right. How are you?"  
"Nothing wrong with me. I've got Renata all right too."  
Renata noticed the blood on the floor. "Harry, you're bleeding!"  
"Oh, I guess I forgot about my hand. I was gripping the wall kind of hard before." He looked at it for the first time. His skin was in strips, with new raw skin beneath.  
Hermione came over on her knees. She pointed her wand at Harry's palms. "Doluit."  
Harry watched in amazement as the skin healed, but gaped when he saw the imprint of a serpent that was left on one palm and the lion on the other.  
Hermione stared. "I.I don't know why it did that."  
Harry was shaken too. "It doesn't matter. Let's go find Dumbledore. We need to tell him that Pumblechook has the Green Flame Torch."  
Ron said, "I don't think Dumbledore is here. Remember about Merlin? We were sent into another dimension. We were sent here to be killed. There's no one to help us. Search the school, search the world. I think maybe only people that somebody with the Torch put here are here."  
Renata looked around before she spoke quietly. "He's right. We're on our own."  
"Let's check the school to be sure. We'll cover more ground if we split up but." None of them wanted to be alone, "If there is anyone here we'd be better off together."  
Struggling and leaning on each other, they stood, looking around. They went from room to room, covering most in the castle and found no one. Even Pumblechook seemed to have vanished. Ron admitted that if he saw so much as a spider he'd jump for joy. There was no food in the kitchens but Hermione managed to whip something up with her wand. She made them soup and they ate there in the kitchen, sitting on the floor by the fire.  
Ron and Harry sat across from Hermione and Renata. Harry put on his cloak and lay down on the ground next to Ron. Hermione and Renata were asleep across from them, on the other side of the fire. They had searched the castle all day, and he was exhausted. Renata must have thought he was a sleep because she came over and began talking softly to him.  
"Why won't you just admit it, Harry? You know you like me. I know which card is yours. Why won't you tell me what I already know? I'm being silly. I'm glad you weren't awake to hear me say this." She leaned down and kissed his cheek. He heard her stand up and walk across the room and lie down on the other side of the fire, near Hermione.  
Harry touched his cheek and smiled. He fell asleep. 


	22. Blast from the Past

When Harry woke, he couldn't remember where he was. He knew he was on the floor but he didn't know why. He smelled breakfast cooking, and sat up groggily. Hermione and Renata were standing over a pot of oatmeal.  
"Finally up, are you?" asked Renata.  
"We've got to make a plan today. We can't just stay here forever."  
"We might have to if Pumblechook did vanish with the Torch."  
That was a thought that Harry had been trying to ignore.  
"We should go to the library to make our plans." Though the library had a large number of torches and such and many tables to work on, there was no fireplace. "Never mind, we'll just stay here."  
After deliberating most of the morning they reached the only logical conclusion they could think of. They would stay at Hogwarts no more than four more days. They would use the time to research in the library and plan their next move from there. Hopefully they could get more robes and cloaks from the laundry room maybe even a some pajamas, and brooms would be in the shed. To Harry, it seemed as though they'd reached a sort of silent agreement to spend the nights, and any other time possible, in the kitchen. Gryffindor Tower seemed desolate when they went into the common room to look for signs of life, they didn't even bother looking in the dormitories, and Hagrid's house appeared to be nonexistent in this world.  
They explored the library going shelf by shelf through it all; even the restricted section, as there was no Madam Pince to warn them off.  
The first two days of searching through the books yielded nothing, but on the third day, their efforts paid off, sort of.  
Renata smiled, and Harry had to smile at her smile. Ever since they'd come here, she had smiled less and less. "Look what I found!"  
Hermione and Ron hustled over to Renata's table. "What is it?"  
"A teleportation spell. I know we can't Apperate yet, even if we weren't at Hogwarts, but when we figure out where we are going this spell will make it much easier to get there. We can teleport there. Once we know where there is. I don't think it'll get us back to our Hogwarts but it's a start."  
Later Hermione pointed out a useful spell she found. "This spell allows you to choose a place anywhere in the world and see it."  
"But how is that useful?"  
"Azkaban. We can look for it."  
"What makes you think it will exist here?"  
"The Green Flame Torch has been missing for so long that whoever has it most likely only knows limitedly of its powers. Possibly only linking it with this world and ours. Azkaban could have easily been moved here. Well, more likely here than anywhere else."  
"So, what do we do tomorrow?"  
"Pack. We have our schoolbags so I suggest we stuff them. We'll need food, water, extra clothes, we can raid Snape's cupboards for potions ingredients, take a few important books."  
Harry was down in the laundry room with his companions searching for clothes that fit. Hermione wanted them to take no more than one or two spare outfits with them each, as they wouldn't have much room to spare. She also said to take pajamas too. Harry found a suitable set of robes and a good, warm cloak. Renata found a good warm set of pajamas for him ("What if we have to camp outside? You can't freeze to death") though Harry wasn't thrilled with the pattern; it was light blue with yellow ducks printed all over it.  
Harry went to his dormitory to see if any of his things were still there. There were things there, but they weren't ones he recognized. Robes that obviously belonged to someone else, books that were positively ancient, they looked new but were certainly outdated. An aged photo of a boy with square glasses and light brown hair was on the nightstand. This was his room and his bed, but they weren't his things. Everything was covered with a thick layer of dust and left in its place as though the inhabitants had left a long time ago and not known they wouldn't be back. Harry found a compass, the Silver Arrow under the bed looked positively new as though just out of the box, there were letters, quills and ink, everything that could be thought of for school.  
"Harry, this is strange," Ron said, holding a Muggle diary from the nineteen-fifties. "Come on, Harry. The girls will be done and waiting for us in the common room."  
Almost before he had finished speaking the door opened and Renata and Hermione came in.  
"It's strange. These aren't our things. I don't understand. Old books that look new. Layers of dust over everything."  
"Same here." Of course, there was no reason to wait in the common room; it was just the four of them now.  
"Are we going to break into Snape's potion stores now?"  
"Yeah. We will have to bring a cauldron with us though. And some vials. I did have a nice collapsible cauldron but it's not in my room. We'll have to make do with whatever Snape has."  
"Alright. Let's go."  
"We should make this quick though, I don't want to spend anymore time in that dungeon than I have to."  
The other three nodded. In Snape's office they grabbed an assortment of anything that looked useful and would fit within their space restrictions Harry barely noticed that the office was as different as the dormitory had been.  
Harry had to check something. "I'll be back."  
"Meet us in the kitchen. We'll be done in here soon."  
Harry nodded. He went to the girls' bathroom on the second floor.  
Myrtle wasn't there. He knew she wouldn't be, but he couldn't help checking anyway. If even a ghost had come with them it would have been helpful, even that ghost. Harry looked at the sinks, searching for the one with the snakes etched on it, the one that led to the Chamber of Secrets. It wasn't there. No Chamber of Secrets. Harry tried to understand it. In this world had there been no Salazar Slytherin? Was it possible? There was no Chamber of Secrets here. So where were the students? What had caused the mass evacuation that had obviously occurred? Clearly this world had been existing before they got there and wandering a different path than their own world. Harry could not puzzle it out on his own. He'd leave the thought for another time. He had to get down to the kitchens. It was a little creepy in this bathroom, especially without Myrtle haunting it.  
He found the others getting ready to do the viewing spell. "Harry, we're drawing straws to see who will see the viewing. Shortest straw does it. Take one. Okay, everybody, look."  
Harry looked; his straw was shortest. "Me."  
"Okay, Harry, sit down. Here's the spell for you to read. It seems simple enough."  
Harry followed the instructions in the book that Hermione had marked. He brought it down and twitched it as he read the spell five times and said Azkaban after each reading.  
He saw the entire globe, far below him. Then it spun until he was looking at North America. Somewhere near New Jersey he though. It narrowed down further to a little island off the coast. There was the Fortress of Azkaban. The last place they had thought Hagrid to be was there.  
Harry's eyes opened with a snap.  
"New Jersey!" he gasped. "Azkaban is off the coast of New Jersey." "Here, point out exactly where it was." She handed him a map and he pointed out the location as near as he could. "Then New Jersey it is. Tomorrow. That's where we are going. We can teleport to New Jersey's coast and make our plans and fly to Azkaban from there." Hermione sounded more decisive than she looked. "There's no Chamber of Secrets here," he said suddenly. "What are you talking about, Harry?" "I went to Myrtle's bathroom. There's no entrance to the Chamber. It's not there. Something went different in this world. Something that ended in the evacuation of Hogwarts." "Fifty-six years ago. I've got a journal here, written by one of the students. It's from that year. I haven't really read it yet but it stops in October of 1940," Ron said, drawing the journal Harry had seen earlier out of his pocket. Harry felt in his own pocket, the letters to the boy with the square glasses. "I've got letters here that were sent to one of the boys from our dormitory." He took out about a dozen letters complete with envelopes and passed them around. Renata muttered, "A letter from his parents. Letters from his pen pal at Durmstrang. A letter from his girlfriend. A letter from a cousin." "Go back to the letters from his pen pal." Goings on from another school might be a clue. She began to read, "It reads, 'Derrick, I received your last letter. Strange things have been happening here too. Muggle-borns have been getting more threats and bullying than usual and there have been more Muggles sighting wizards and witches than usual. Things are not good. The sightings almost seem intentional. I hear that a band of boys plan to tell all the Muggles about us. I do not want that to happen, life would never be the same if Muggles knew we existed, even if we tried to get along peacefully with them. I hear that the ones who want to tell the Muggles about the wizards want to rule over them. The professors speak often of keeping either sending us all home for our parents to deal with or keeping us all here until the Minister decides what to do. What if I can't go home for Christmas? Let me know if anything else strange happens. Your friend, Alexander.' This guy has really good handwriting." "Maybe that's what happened. Maybe they had to close Hogwarts because the Muggles were getting suspicious or." It was worse but it had to be said, "Or they knew." "Correction, Harry: they know. They're out there somewhere and they know about all of us. Wizard and witches must live in fear everyday of their life." "How do you know that the wizards aren't in charge?" "It's not possible. If the wizards and witches were in charge, Hogwarts wouldn't be closed down. I still don't understand why they had to leave in such a rush that they left all their things here. I thought there were fewer books in the library. And the tables looked a little different." "Let's look at the diary. The other letters seem mostly to be about Quiditch with a little politics mixed in the one I read was the last one. Give me the diary, Ron." Renata thumbed through the pages. "It seems there were only three houses. Though there were misfits that didn't seem to belong in any house. They were put into a kind of forth category. A House of Misfits. It wasn't really called that but it was a real house though wasn't named or accredited to any of the founders and was known among the students as the Misfit House. This group seems like troublemakers. The kind of troublemakers that would have normally found a home with the Slytherins, but didn't, because there were no Slytherins. The diary talks about a lot of these kids wanting to show the entire world about the power of magic and how it was beginning to scare him. It says that he wrote home to his parents about it and they didn't believe him." "So we know for sure that this was an international problem and not limited to one school." "Definitely. I suggest we read Hogwarts, A History." "But you've already read it." "Not in this world. I'm going to the library; I'll be back. Get started on dinner." "Hermione, you shouldn't go alone. I don't trust this place, even if it is or was Hogwarts." Ron stood. "I'm coming with you. I can look through books just as good as anybody else." "You can come, but don't distract me. I know you don't like work but it's imperative that we find and read Hogwarts, A History if we want to know what's going on in this world." Renata stood up. "Great, Harry and I will fix something to eat. Hermione, if you don't find the book in an hour come back anyway. If you do find it, come back anyway so you can read it down here. I don't trust this place, not as far as I could throw the giant squid!" She looked around. "That is, if the squid were here. It's not. At least, I haven't seen it." "Okay." Hermione and Ron left, heading for the library and Harry and Renata tried to figure out something for dinner. "Um.what do you want to eat?" "I don't know. What do you want?" "Peanut butter and bacon sandwiches. There's peanut butter in the cupboard still." "Won't that have gone bad by now? It's been more than fifty years." "Nah. I read somewhere that peanut butter is the only food that can never go bad. I think I can make some bacon and toast with my wand. Look for the plates and knives, will ya?" Harry rummaged around the drawers for the proper utensils while Renata made the bacon and toast. "Does peanut butter and bacon actually taste good?" he asked, trying not to gag. "It's delicious." She laughed. "Where are those knives and plates I asked for?" "Here." Renata took her eight slices of toast, spread peanut butter over them, put bacon on four of them, and covered them with the other slice of bread. She put these on the plates Harry handed her. "Take these over by the fireplace. You know we're all going to eat there again. Light the fire, too. It's going to get cold here." "Right." He took his wand and lit the fireplace. "So, what are tomorrow's plans?" "We are going to make final arrangements and preparations for the trip and then we'll do the teleportation spell. We'll go to New Jersey, the coast near where Azkaban is. And plot our next move from there. We'll try to figure out much Azkaban is guarded, who guards it, and how we can get Hagrid out." "What about getting home?" "That, too, but we've more hope of rescuing Hagrid from a myriad of Dementors than of getting home." Harry sat down glumly, he wouldn't miss his aunt or uncle or cousin, but he did miss Sirius, Dumbledore, Lupin, and many other people. Renata looked at him from across the room. She dropped what she was doing to come and sit down with her arm around him. "Don't pout, pouts don't look good on you. Actually they do, but that's beside the point. Things are going to be okay. We'll get home." "Maybe we will," he said doubtfully, ignoring the comment about pouting. "Here," she dragged her schoolbag across in front of him. She took out her Valentines Day cards and spread them in front of him. "I know which one you sent." "I didn't send you a card." "Yes, you did. See, this card was from Dan. This one was from Tim. This one was from Joey. They send them every year as a joke. Seamus sent this one with the four leaf clovers on it. I sent these three just to watch your reaction when I got so many cards. And you sent this one." She picked up his card. "This one has you written all over it." "I don't see a name. And I don't recognize that handwriting," he said, knowing very well it was his. "It's yours and you know it." Harry looked up at the door. "Hermione, Ron, you're back soon. You've only been gone twenty minutes." "We found the book within minutes and decided to bring it back right away. Oh, good. You made sandwiches." Hermione sat down with a sandwich and begin to read. Ron followed her example, looking over her right shoulder, as he didn't have a book of his own to read. Renata whispered, "I know which card is yours, because I know you, Harry." She sat up and went to lean over Hermione's other shoulder to see the book. "We made sandwiches." "Oh. Thank you." Hermione absently picked hers up and began chewing it. Ron turned the page for her.  
Renata turned it back. "I wasn't done yet." She flipped the page again.  
Harry watched, anxious and bored, wishing Hermione had another shoulder to lean over so he could inspect the book. Harry laughed out loud. Hermione or any person for that matter with three shoulders was ridiculous. He drew up an image in his mind with a third arm sticking out between Hermione's left shoulder and neck. He chuckled.  
Ron looked at him, worried, "Harry, have you gone mad?"  
He shook his head.  
"What's funny?" demanded Renata.  
"Nothing," he said.  
"Harry, don't make me beat any answers out of you. I will."  
"I know you would."  
"Not would. Will," she glared.  
"I.I was thinking about how strange it is here with no people and wondering if my parents were alive. Here, I mean. Or if we even exist here. We very might well not, you know."  
She stood up slowly and walked over to him. "I know that and I still see nothing funny, Harry. That's not what you were thinking." She knelt next to him and took his hand. Suddenly she jerked his arm and twisted it behind him. Harry tried not to grimace with the pain as she twisted it worse.  
"Why were you laughing?" she asked calmly.  
"No. It's stupid."  
"Tell me."  
"Ow, ow, ow! No. OW!"  
"Well?"  
"Aah! Ow! Okay! I'll tell you! Just let go, will ya?" He frowned and rubbed his arm as she let go. That hurt. He could see Ron across the room, obviously trying very hard not to laugh and not succeeding. He'd watched the whole thing, why hadn't he come to help? "It's stupid."  
She glared at him.  
"Alright, alright," he muttered. "The three of you were reading the book. You and Ron leaning over her shoulders to read and I wished she had another should so I could read it too. Then I realized how stupid she'd look like that." Now all three of them were glaring at him. What had he said wrong? He added hastily, "How stupid anyone would look with three shoulders, I meant." That seemed to help.  
"You're right. That was stupid."  
"That's why I wasn't going to say it."  
She shook her head and whispered to him, "No, I meant saying that Hermione looked stupid in front of Ron was stupid, idiot."  
"Huh? But I didn't say that. I just said."  
"It all amounts to the same thing," she chided.  
  
Harry woke early that morning, earlier than on any of the previous mornings since Valentines Day though he was still the last one awake. He'd been haunted during the night by dreams. Dreams of his parents and finally meeting them. Then nightmares where they met him and hated him. Nightmares where the Harry of this world tried to kill him for trying to steal his parents. He shivered. This wouldn't be as easy as he'd thought.  
"Guys?" His friends turned to look at him, just waking up whereas their schoolbags were packed and the cloaks they'd slept on rolled up to travel with.  
"Yes, lazybones?" asked Renata, yawning.  
"I was wondering.do we have to go straight to New Jersey today?"  
"Where do you want to go?"  
He bit his lip and hesitated before answering. "Godric's Hollow. I want to find my parents, if I can."  
"I don't know about you two," Renata looked at Hermione and Ron, "but I'm with Harry on this. My parents lived in Godric's Hollow, too. If they're there.I want to see my dad."  
"What do you say?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione, who were getting him a bowl of oatmeal.  
"I'm with you, Harry. I'll stick with you," Ron said. "I'm not going to let you go without me."  
Hermione brought Harry his bowl. "I'm going, too."  
"One for all and all for one I guess." Harry grinned. "Is everyone ready?"  
"Everyone but you. Go brush your hair and put on fresh robes if you're done with your oatmeal. You want to look your best when you see your parents. I'll pack up your things for you." Renata told him.  
Harry nodded, took robes from the pile near his schoolbag and went off to the nearest boys' room. He put on fresh robes, startled at how well they fit considering they weren't his and had been pulled out of the pile in the laundry room. They fit better than his old robes. He noticed the sleeves and neck were cut slightly different from the robes he knew but still the same basic Hogwarts robes. He combed his hair as best he could and cleaned his glasses.  
Today was it. He'd meet his parents at last, he tried to keep away the dreams from the night before and the possibility that his parents were dead here too. He shook his head. Whatever was was. That was all there was to it.  
Back in the kitchen he saw that the last of breakfast was tidied up, Renata was just wrapping an extra cloak around Harry's bag, and Ron and Hermione were going over the teleportation spell one more time.  
Hermione saw him enter. "There shouldn't be any problem with the teleportation spell and Hogwarts anti-Apperating guard spells. It should work fine. Is there anything else we need?"  
"What do we have?" he asked.  
"A broom a piece, they're in the corner there; a cauldron, apparently the professor here had a nice collapsible one so I put it in my school bag; a canteen of water each; clothes; the diaries and letters; Hogwarts, a History and another book or two for reference; a little food; not much else besides. I wish your invisibility cloak were here."  
"That would be helpful but this place seems to have stopped in the nineteen-forties. Before my dad brought the cloak here. I've got a compass."  
"Good. I've got first aid stuff, too. We may need it. So we're set. Godric's Hollow?"  
Harry nodded and looked at Renata. She nodded and turned to Ron. He said, "Then let's get on with this. Everybody put your schoolbag on your shoulder, tuck your broom under your arm, and get in a circle. Hold hands. We need to make sure no one is left behind. I'm not sure I'd even leave Malfoy here."  
They assembled in a tight ring; Harry was between Renata and Ron. Hermione began the spell and after what seemed to be an eternity Harry felt himself caught in what felt like a windstorm. He hurtled through the stars in the sky until he found himself standing again. Not really standing. He was barely on his knees on the ground, hardly keeping himself from losing his breakfast. The others were no better though the four of them still kept at tight grip on each other.  
"Are we here?"  
"I think so. But where exactly is here?"  
Harry looked around. He'd had a dream once, after a confrontation with Voldemort. His parents had spoken to him in it. He saw their house now. As he looked around he saw that the entire neighborhood was in shambles, the houses were in need of repair. The walls had graffiti on them that said uncomplimentary things about wizards and witches. Harry began to run. He had to reach his parents' house. He had to see them. He dropped everything in his hands, including Renata and Ron.  
"Harry!"  
"Wait!"  
"Come back!"  
"You don't know if it's safe!"  
"Harry!"  
His friends called him back but he ran straight to the door and knocked as hard as he could.  
The man that answered looked like the pictures Harry had of James Potter but he was missing part of an arm, there was a scar on his face, and he looked older. He clearly wasn't the young new father Harry had pictures of, but it didn't matter because this was his dead. He had to be.  
"You're dead, boy, and we sent the ghosts away years ago. Be gone!"  
"Dad, it's me. I'm your son. Your son Harry."  
"No. Harry died. The Muggles killed him. I don't know who you are but Harry didn't have that funny scar. Go away." He tried to shut the door.  
"What happened here?" he asked.  
"You honestly don't know?"  
"No, sir. I.I came here hoping to find answers."  
"Come in," he sighed testily. "We've taken in enough refugees over the years." He opened the door wider. He looked into the street. "Are those your friends out there? The three staring at the house and carrying all those bags?"  
"Yeah. Those are them."  
"Should I let them in?"  
"Yeah. They're good people. The best." They were. Ron was loyal and his best friend. Hermione was always there for him. And Renata.well what could he say about her? He called to them, "Hermione! Ron! Renata! Come!"  
They came trotting over and Renata dropped his bag on his foot.  
"Ouch!" He started hopping up and down on his good foot, gripping his sore one. He growled, "What was that for?"  
"For running off and making me carry the stupid bag." She grinned and turned to the man. "So you must be Harry's dad."  
"I don't know who this boy is but he looks an awful lot like my son did before he died."  
"Mr. Potter," Renata said, taking his good arm and leading him inside, "I'll explain exactly what's going on and who he is."  
Hermione and Ron followed them and Harry picked up his and Renata's bags and brooms and followed too.  
"Have you heard of the Green Flame Torch?"  
  
"That's been lost for so long it's barely remembered. What about it?" He began pouring them all cups of tea.  
"That's how we got here. We're from another world. In that world, Peter Pettigrew became your secret-keeper and betrayed you when Voldemort was after you. Voldemort killed you and Lilly Potter, but his curse didn't touch Harry except for that scar on his forehead. It was the killing curse and it rebounded back on Voldemort. He's tried to kill Harry several times since. Once he tried to gain his body with the Sorcerer's Stone. Another time he used a diary that preserved his sixteen-year-old self and tried to take another student's life force. In our world Harry's an orphan who lives with your sister-in-law who treats him like dirt and worse. The only time his life is decent is when he's at Hogwarts and the rare visits he gets with Sirius. Sirius was in Azkaban for twelve years. Framed by Pettigrew. We were transported here by the Green Flame Torch so Voldemort and Pettigrew and other people could kill us. We were at Hogwarts. Does any of this make sense?"  
"Not really. Who are you again?"  
"I'm Renata Delano. Do you remember Jennifer or Remus Lupin? Jennifer is my mom. Remus is my uncle. Jonathan Delano was my dad, before Voldemort killed him," her voice was tight as though the words hurt. "Doesn't any of this make sense?"  
"Not really. Hogwarts was forced to close in the forties."  
"Then could you fill us in on what happened in this world?"  
"In the forties, Hogwarts was closed. It was too risky to keep it open. The Headmaster sent letters to Muggle-borns and connected them with private wizard tutors and relatives taught those from wizarding families. I do remember a Voldemort." he frowned in concentration.  
"If you didn't go to Hogwarts, how did you meet my mum then? According to you I did exist here."  
"Lilly was a Muggle-born. She was sent to my mother and father for instruction in magic. She was so pretty." He leaned forward and peered closer at Harry. "Oh my. You do have her eyes, don't you? She was beautiful. And smart. Lilly." He smiled.  
Harry blinked. "Was? What do you mean 'was'?"  
"She's gone, Harry. Things went differently here than you say they went in your world. Things went well for a few years after they closed Hogwarts. One year they almost opened the school again. I heard they sent out letters and everything. A young man named Tom Vorolam Riddle was the reason the school closed. His father was a Muggle named Tom Riddle and his mother was from an old wizarding family. They'd been in that fourth Hogwarts house for generations. Not Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff or Gryffindor but the other one. What was it called again? It doesn't matter. He and some others led a demonstration. They planned it around the world. It was an international affair. By the end, too many Muggles knew to turn back. They couldn't do much to stop us but if someone was recognized by Muggles to be a wizard they were shot. Almost every Muggle carries a loaded gun now. Normally a wizard could avoid being killed if they did what the Muggle asked. Things got that bad. Two years ago, Harry decided he couldn't take this anymore and he and a group of his friends tried to take a stand against this maltreatment. They were killed. All of them. They were a random group. They'd connected through a Quill Acquaintance program to help keep young wizards and witches together during these hard times when there was no Hogwarts to let them meet. What were their names? There was a boy by the name of Longbottom. There was a Ronald Weasly, and Hermione Granger. Hermione had been sent to the Weaslys for tutoring."  
"Do you remember anything about the Delanos or Lupins?"  
"Lupin sounds familiar.that was that werewolf who went crazy and killed his sister."  
"No," breathed Renata.  
"Yes. Now all the wizards and witches live in fear. Worldwide. There's nowhere safe. It's blackmail or death if you're found out to be able to do magic."  
"Why can't everyone just fight back?"  
"The Muggle armies sit on their nuclear weapons. If we make a move against them they'd fire and we'd be dead before we could do anything about it. Even magic doesn't heal death. If it did, Harry would be here. Lilly too."  
"What happened to my mum?"  
"Shot by a Muggle." There was anger in his voice. "The Muggles like some wizards. Though they all but keep them as pets when that's the case. If a Muggle is willing to put up with one of our sort it means one of two things: they either want to use us or they are one of the few good-hearted Muggles left that's will to help us. A few still even want to pretend we don't exist. Some rotten Muggle wanted her to kill his brother for him but he shot her when she refused to. Harry got so angry that he went looking for the Muggle. It turned out Voldemort was working for him, tracking down other wizards and killing them for the Muggles. Harry, Ronald, Hermione, and the Longbottom boy went to go hunt him down. Longbottom fell first. Hermione likely would have had Ronald not been there. He died next, protecting her. Then Voldemort got Hermione. Last, Harry died. He managed to kill Voldemort but he died anyway. It was the last battle and our side lost. Hermione and Ronald were such a cute couple. Engaged, you know. They wanted to be married as soon as they graduated." He studied the three of them. "They'd be about your age by now. And they looked a lot like you too. But Hermione had larger teeth."  
It made sense. Hermione had had larger teeth and would still have had them if she had not shrunken them with magic a few years before. "What do you know about Azkaban?'  
"Well, I know-wait, what was your name?"  
"Hermione. Hermione Granger."  
"I'm Ron, Ronald Weasly."  
"Oh. I see. Azkaban closed a long time ago. It's off the coast of Spain, or maybe Portugal. It's been made into a Muggle amusement park. Why?"  
"Before we were transported here Azkaban was. It went missing from our world and it got transported here. Off the coast of New Jeresey. We did a locating spell of sorts and we got here by teleporting. We don't have our Apperating licenses yet. We're going to Azkaban to rescue our friend then we have to find the Green Flame Torch so we can get home. We can't stay here forever."  
"Why not?"  
"What do you mean why not?"  
"Why can't you stay here forever? Live with me. Harry, your parents are dead. You could stay here with me. The three of you are welcome to stay too. If you don't mind living with a cantankerous old man."  
"Old? You can't even be in your forties yet. You're my mom's age, she and Lilly were best friends." said Renata.  
"Harry, will you take these cups into a kitchen with me?" asked Mr. Potter.  
He nodded. The man stood up and Harry followed him into the kitchen. Mr. Potter put on more water to boil. "Harry, is that your young lady? She's a good pick. Reminds me of your mother. Of the Lilly I knew anyway."  
Harry started blushing. "I don't know what she is. 'Young lady' hardly describes her. She picks fights, gambles a bit, plays Quiditch."  
He smiled almost fondly at him. "You're crazy about her, aren't you?"  
"I.I don't know. She's one of my best friends. She's on my Quiditch team. She led the team in a rebellion against me. Made all of them quit." Harry peaked through the crack in the door out at his friends, looking at one in particular. "She is pretty, isn't she? I don't know. I just don't know anything. No one I could talk to about this."  
"What about your friend Ron? I take it you're closer to him than anyone. Doesn't he have any advice? He has Hermione after all. Doesn't he?"  
"He doesn't know. I'd never hear the end of it if he even thought I liked Renata after all the crap I put up with from her. What advice could he have? Hermione and Ron? That would never happen in a hundred years." Harry had always told himself that but lately he'd doubted it.  
"I meant what I said before, Harry. I realize we don't know each other but you could stay here. With me. Your friends too."  
"I can't. Hermione and Ron have families to get back to. Ron's got six brothers and a little sister. Renata's mum would miss her."  
"What about you?'  
"I have no one to go back to. You and mum are both dead there. Remember? I have the Dursleys and Sirius Black. Sirius is great though."  
"You could stay with me," he repeated.  
"Or you could come with me. We will get back home. Come with us. You could live with Sirius and I. We've got plenty of room in the house."  
"No, Harry. In your world Sirius Black and James Potter were best friends. Here, we never met. I may be James Potter but I'm not the James Potter he knew. We don't have the same memories. Or the same lives. If your dad was anything like me then it would have torn him apart to have to live without Lilly. Do you know anything about how they died?"  
Harry nodded. "I was only a year old but I see it every time I meet a Dementor. My dad told my mum to take me and run. He was killed. Then Voldemort came after us. She died saving me. Then I couldn't be killed. I was the one he wanted dead. The two of them dead because of me." Harry took some breaths to steady himself, the story was hard on him. "But I had a dream, last year. And I don't think I'll ever forget it. I found myself standing in front of my mum and dad and I warned them about Peter. I told them to leave but they said they knew what was going to happen and that they had to do it."  
"I think there's something I have to do too. Let's bring the tea back out to your friends." They left the kitchen. "How are you getting along?"  
"We're fine. Just fine," she smiled, tossing her hair. "So? Did you boys have a nice chat?" Renata smiled again.  
"Oh. Yes. I've come to a decision. The three of you can spend the night here and in the morning I'm going with you."  
"I thought you said-"  
"Harry, I told you I wouldn't go back to your world with you, that's not my home. But I do know that my place tomorrow is to help you. Everything that happens happens for a reason. Maybe the reason I'm not dead is so that I could be here to meet you today and help you tomorrow. It's my place."  
"Okay. Tomorrow."  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yeah, yeah, sorry the title was kinda cliché-ish but I thought it kinda fit. 


	23. Makeover at Azkaban

Tomorrow came and Harry woke up downstairs on the couch. He rubbed his neck. It hadn't exactly been comfortable but Harry had chosen this instead of the room he and Ron had been offered. Harry couldn't take that room. It had been Harry's. The Harry from this world. So he had stayed on the couch. Hermione and Renata had bunked in the guestroom. Harry saw Renata standing at the top of the stairs.  
"Good morning, Harry," she asked, walking down the stairs, still in a long-sleeved nightgown.  
Harry sat up and stretched his arms, yawning. "Do you wanna sit?"  
"Sure. What prompted the couch over the room with Ron? Did he kick you out for snoring or talking in your sleep or something?"  
"No. I couldn't stay in that room. That was Harry's room. It'd just be strange."  
"No stranger than anything else here. In this world, I was never born. My uncle went crazy and killed my mom. Remember?" she said bitterly. "At least you existed and died. I never even was." She mentally shook the mood from herself and said lightheartedly, "So.nice p.j.'s." She snickered.  
"If I remember you picked them out."  
"I didn't think you'd actually wear them."  
"Well. Er.yours is pink. With rabbits on it. You hate pink."  
"Wrong."  
"You don't hate pink?"  
"No, you were right about that. But these aren't rabbits. They are fwuffy wittle bunnies." She giggled and Harry laughed.  
"Do you think we'll make it home, Harry? To our world, I mean. I miss my mom. I know I wouldn't be seeing her now if we were there anyway but I miss knowing she can come if I need her. Knowing she's there."  
"Ren, I promise you that if I can do anything to get you home I will, whether I get back or not. I'll get you back to your mum."  
"Thanks, Harry. That means a lot."  
"Ahem."  
The two of them looked up at the stairs to find both Ron and Hermione fully dressed and staring at them from the top of the stairs. Harry blushed and took his arm away from around Renata. How had that gotten there? He frowned trying to remember.  
Hermione simply said, "Mr. Potter said we'd be leaving within the hour. You should probably get dressed."  
Ron merely arched an eyebrow at Harry.  
"Right. I still need to brush my hair too." Renata stood up and she seemed to glide rather than walk up the stairs. Hermione scowled and followed her.  
When he thought the girls were gone Ron laughed. Harry failed to see what was so funny.  
"Harry, what were the two of your talking about?" Ron sat down next to Harry.  
Harry stood up and turned away. "I've got to go get dressed."  
Ron followed him up the stairs. "Would you mind telling me what that was all about?"  
"What do you mean? Renata came down to see me and we were just talking."  
"You had your arm around her."  
"Did I?"  
"It's no secret. Everyone in the Tower knows you like her."  
"They do?" Harry swallowed involuntarily. He had barely realized how much he liked her, how did everyone else already know?  
"Yep. Most of us figured it out a while ago. Before the Valentine's Day card and before Christmas. After all she is the only person that you let lead you around on strings."  
"She does not lead me around on strings! What about you?"  
"What about me?"  
"I think the whole school knows about you and Hermione."  
"What are you talking about? We're not dating. I'm not her kind of guy. She wants someone brainy. Like her. Birds of a feather after all."  
"Yeah right. She's already got brains. She's interested in someone who'll make her laugh."  
Ron had no response to this.  
"You should be dating her."  
"Did Renata tell you to say that? Are you her little trained puppy?"  
Harry threw a pillow at Ron's head. "No!" He fastened his cloak. "It's just.Ron," he sighed. "Hermione's nice and smart and she's not ugly but Renata.There's just something about her, Ron. Normally I wouldn't put up with someone as bossy as her (she's worse than Hermione!) or anyone who tried to read my mind so often. Though sometimes she knows what I'm thinking without any spell. She's just.I don't know. She plays Quiditch as well as anyone, she's brave, she's smart, and she's gorgeous. Just.Ron, help me!"  
"What do you mean? What do you want? You sound fine to me."  
"I don't like this! I like her too much. She terrifies me. Swear you won't repeat any of this."  
"So that's which card was yours. I thought as much. Okay. I won't say anything."  
"Swear, Ron."  
"I swear, Harry, I swear."  
"Oh." He kneaded his forehead. "Sometimes I feel like I am her trained puppy, but I can't help it, Ron. I can't."  
"Come on, Harry. Let's go shove some food down our throats before we leave. We're going to need strength. I can't believe this. We are voluntarily going to Azkaban. We must be mad."  
Over breakfast they discussed their plan. They were going to teleport to New Jersey in the general area of where Harry saw Azkaban. Further plans would be made from there.  
They repeated the teleportation spell from the day before and reached their new destination.  
They fared no better for their arrival than when they'd reached Godric's Hollow. They kept a tight grip on each other but hardly kept their footing. They stumbled to their feet to look at their surroundings.  
They were on a beach somewhere in New Jersey. Azkaban lay somewhere in the water out there, beyond their vision. "This is no more help than being back in Godric's Hollow. We don't know what's going on out there."  
"So you want to jump blindly into a den of vipers?" asked Renata, getting to her feet.  
"That's about it I guess unless someone has a better idea. Does anyone know anything helpful about Azkaban?"  
"No."  
"Then let's go."  
"Wait, are we taking a boat or teleporting? I don't have money for a boat and I don't think we could find one to hire for us if we did have the money. Going out into the middle of the ocean to a mysterious island with a group of kids doesn't seem like something someone would want to be hired for."  
"Good point. Then to the vipers we go. If anybody wants to back out, this is the time to do it."  
No one accepted the offer. They teleported again, landing outside the main building of Azkaban.  
They stood up and peered around the corner. A single Death Eater stood there guarding the door.  
"I've got this," whispered Renata. Harry heard her count to three before bursting out from the cover of where they were. Before the guard could move or say a word, Renata had turned him into a ferret. She ran to pick him up. "Hermione, do you have any glue with you?"  
"Yes. Here." Hermione smeared a large glob on the wall and Renata put the ferret on it.  
"Stay." She bent down and picked up the Death Eater mask. "Who volunteers to be the first going incognito?"  
"I will." Harry ripped the Hogwarts crest off his robes beneath his black cloak. It would have to do. He put on the mask and pulled his hood up. "How do I look?"  
"Short."  
"What?"  
"The other guard was taller. About your height," Renata eyed Mr. Potter.  
"But that won't work," Hermione said.  
"For what?"  
"For the plan I thought of."  
"What plan?" asked Harry.  
"Well, Ron is about the same size as Mr. Potter and that guard. We could make Ron the Death Eater and have him lead Mr. Potter and the three of us inside. Prisoners."  
"They'll recognize the three of us," Renata protested. "Keep Harry here and come up with another plan. He can guard our bags."  
"I thought of that, Renata. I did. But Harry doesn't seem too happy about it."  
"I'm not going to just sit out here while the four of you risk your necks in there. I'm coming."  
"Told you. Now I thought about it and we can do things to make ourselves less recognizable. For one thing we put Mr. Potter in the front, these men are from our world, they haven't seen him. Any James Potter they did see died fifteen years ago. If we mess up our hair, smudge some dirt in it and on our faces we'll look more like prisoners. Anonymous prisoners taken because." Hermione chewed her lip trying to think. "Because we can be traded to the Muggles. As slaves." She spat the words. "I don't like it anymore than any of you do but it's the best we have. What other reason would we be taken for without giving ourselves away?" No one had an answer. "Alright then. Renata, come with me and we can figure out what to do with everyone's faces. Mr. Potter, Ron, could you watch the bags? And Harry, you're wearing the mask so stand at the guard's post."  
"You said it yourself that Ron looks more the part. Here, Ron. Take the mask." He wanted to hear what the girls were plotting. He removed the mask and was shocked as to how Ron appeared when he put it on and drew up his hood. Ron went to the guard's post and Harry sat by Mr. Potter  
Harry listened as best he could to what the girls were saying.  
"I know, Renata. The one in the mask is safest, until he has to talk. I don't know how we'll manage if it comes to that, but we can't protect Harry and Ron. I want Ron to be the one in the mask just as much as you want it to be Harry. We have got to keep both of them alive. Both, you hear me? It's all or none. We all come back or none of us do. Promise me."  
"You're right. We're tough. We can handle this. What have you got for disguises?"  
Harry stopped listening at this point. The girls were trying to protect them! Renata should wear the mask. She was nearly as tall as he was. Maybe only shorter by an inch, if that. All of us, he thought, we are all going back.  
He waited for Hermione and Renata to return to he and Mr. Potter. They began to rummage through the baggage.  
"Harry, come here," Renata said all too sweetly.  
"What are you going to do?" he asked warily.  
"Nothing. Just come sit by Hermione and me. Please? I promise I won't do anything."  
Harry crept closer to them. Renata grabbed his head to hold it still while Hermione came at him with a small brush that looked like something like a miniature paintbrush. "No! No makeup." He struggled and couldn't move his head away.  
"Nonsense, Harry. We're just going to cover up your scar. That would give us all away if anyone saw it. I'm just going to make it less obvious." Hermione worked and when she appeared done with his scar she dipped the brush in something else and came back at his face with it.  
"What now?"  
"We decided you fought capture and got a black-eye. Now if you don't want the real pain of one just let me finish. How well can you see without your glasses?"  
"I can see shapes but it's blurry."  
"Can you see well enough to follow the reset of us?"  
"Yeah."  
"Good. Renata, we're going to need an extra pocket with the wand for Harry's robes."  
"Right. Wand and glasses for Harry. Got it. Anything but wands for you and me?"  
"No, that should be good."  
"What are you talking about?" he asked. They were talking as though he weren't even there!  
Renata let go of his head and took his right arm. She had a needle and thread in her hand and she began to work. "Prisoners shouldn't have wands, so we're putting secret pockets of sorts in our sleeves to hold them. You'll need one for your glasses and one for your wand. Hermione, are you going to start working on Mr. Potter's sleeve?"  
"Right." She moved over to where Mr. Potter was.  
"Go over the plan again, Renata."  
"Okay, Harry. We signal to Ron when we're ready and he'll lead us inside. We'll have our brooms so that it looks like we were coming here by flying trying to hunt down rumors of a rebellion or escape Muggles and saw this place. Who knows? When we get inside, we'll be taken to cells where Hagrid is, Ron will knock out a guard, get us free if we are actually in the cells, and we'll find Hagrid. That simple. And of course we'll try and find the Green Flame Torch. There. Done. Try and put your wand here, and your glasses there."  
Harry tried it. The pockets worked fine even though no extra cloth had been added anywhere. Hermione seemed to have finished with Mr. Potter and Renata worked on Hermione's sleeve before allowing Hermione to work on hers.  
The girls then began to work on their own makeup, odd as it seemed for either of them to be wearing it. Most of the makeup was to change their appearance for recognition purposes, not to put on eye shadow or lipstick or anything. Hermione used a cream to darken her face slightly and Renata gave her lines that looked like cuts with a little blood. Hermione gave Renata a lot of freckles and a few scars. They messed with their hair enough to have it hang in their faces and look tangled before coming back to Harry. Renata took water in her hand and put it in Harry's hair.  
"Hermione, do you think we should spike it, making it obvious that the scar isn't there or should we keep it flat to cover his forehead just in case?"  
"Why don't we curl this piece down over the forehead and spike the rest?"  
"That could work." Renata nodded and suddenly eyed Harry like a hungry wolf. "This'll be fun." She attacked Harry's head with the comb and Harry became quite sick of her and Hermione messing with his hair. They told him that he'd be in big trouble if he ruined their hard work.  
At last they were done. "Perfect. Hermione, could you get me the mirror?"  
"Sure." She giggled and Harry wasn't certain he'd like what he'd see.  
A small hunk of his hair was curled over where his scar should be. The rest of the hair had been spiked up. His eye did look as though it had been bruised. Everything else looked the same. They'd done a good job.  
"Take off your glasses and put them in your sleeve," ordered Renata.  
"It's not good enough. He still looks like Harry."  
Renata laughed. "He only looks like Harry to us. Harry, you shave, right?"  
"Yeah. But I haven't since we left our Hogwarts on Valentines Day. I couldn't find razors at the Hogwarts here."  
"That doesn't matter. What matters is that you don't look as much like you as we think you do, with that stubble of beard and mustache growing on your face you look pretty different. It'll do. What about Hermione and I?" She wiped dirt onto her robes. "It'll look like we had more of a struggle. We need names."  
Hermione answered, "I'm Christina, you're Victoria-"  
"I want to be Hypatia."  
"Okay, you're Hypatia. You're Kyle-"  
"I want to be James."  
"Fine, Harry, you're James. I'll go get Ron now."  
Ron stood at the rear, covering the four of them with his wand as though they were real prisoners. Mr. Potter was in the lead with Hermione and Renata side by side behind him. Harry stood behind the girls.  
They'd only been inside a minute, passing by barred cells, when they reached another Death Eater.  
"What are you doing away from your post?"  
Hermione whipped out her wand and before the man knew what was happening, he was crawling on all fours, a ferret.  
"Nice work, Hermione," Ron told her.  
"I'm Christina now. Remember?"  
Mr. Potter pinned down the animal with his foot. "What do you want done with this?"  
Hermione ripped a strip of cloth off the end of her robe and tied the ferret to one of the bars of the cell door.  
Renata picked up the Death Eater mask and put it on Harry's face, pulling his hood over his head and ruining his hair.  
"No, Renata. You put it on. I'm not wearing it."  
"My name is Hypatia, James."  
"Hypatia," he struggled to remove the mask but she held it firmly on his head until he gave up.  
"You win."  
"I always win, go stand back by Ron."  
He grumbled but did as he was told. There wouldn't be any use arguing with her. There never was.  
All the cells they passed were empty, the doors made of iron bars. Hagrid would be with higher security, surely.  
They reached the larger, more heavily built cells without meeting any more guards, and Harry could see why. The doors were wood with heavy steel crisscrossing them and supporting them. The tiny window was only about three by three inches and in revealed a troll, kept there with heavy chains around his wrists, ankles, and neck. They checked each door. A dozen trolls in all. Harry remembered the time he, Ron, and Hermione had faced a troll; they'd been lucky to escape with their lives. Some of these slept, snoring loudly, others growled and screamed, straining against their bonds.  
Harry shivered. Hagrid had to be here. He had to. At last, Mr. Potter (still in the lead) found the right door. "Is this who you're looking for?"  
Harry rushed to be the first to look in through the miniscule window. Hagrid lay, sprawled on the floor on a bed of straw. He was chained to the wall like the trolls they had seen. Harry was shoved aside roughly so the others could look. Harry took out his wand, "Alohamora!" He was shocked that it worked. The door opened and his three friends, all leaning on it, trying to see in, collapsed in a pile just inside the door. Disentangling themselves they stood and rushed to Hagrid.  
"Hagrid, it's us. Hagrid!"  
He didn't open his eyes. "Are all yeh bloody varmints back for more? I'm not tellin' yeh where Dumbledore has those kids. I'm not going ter tell yeh!"  
"Hagrid, it's us!"  
"Harry?" He blinked. "What are yeh doin' here? Wearin' that?"  
"Rescuing you." He and Ron hastily removed their masks. "Come on, we've got to find the Green Flame Torch."  
"That doesn't exist."  
"That's how we got here. We're not in our world anymore, Hagrid."  
"These chains won't budge. I tried. For months I tried. I did."  
"Someone's coming." There was an open and empty cell straight across from them. Harry waited for the Death Eater to come even with the door.  
"What.?" Harry pounced on him, taking his shoulders and pinning them to the wall.  
"I want answers!" he growled. "How many Death Eaters here?"  
"Thirty-seven."  
Harry tightened his grip. "Where is Voldemort?"  
"I don't know."  
"Liar! Where is he?"  
"In the lobby. Where any visitors for prisoners were taken."  
Harry tightened his grip again. "Do you have the key to those chains?"  
"No."  
"Are you sure?"  
"No!" he shrieked. "I have it. Let me go."  
"Give me the key." Harry tried to sound as dangerous as possible: a mix of hate, fury, and slight insanity in his voice.  
The man handed it over; as little as he could move his arms. "Now, you're going to stay here with my friends while I go hunting. Right?" he kept his voice icy and dangerous.  
"I'll stay here."  
Harry felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. He screamed as his legs buckled under him and he blacked out. 


	24. Enemies and Clones

Harry saw a pale, thin man with red eyes starring coldly at him and lounging in a tall chair. A snake lay circling around him, and then changed its route to include Harry.  
  
"So you are finally awake, yes?" He smiled an icy smile that curled the Harry on the back of Harry's neck. "You're friends are all gone. One captured and the rest fled. Not even willing to risk trying to save you. You think I don't know who you are? A hasty glance may have made the others unsure but I knew. I will never forget those eyes, Harry Potter. You will pay. You're alone now. Death Eaters guard every door. You're friends are gone except for that one. I may keep her for a while yet. She did put up quite a fight; gave split lips and black-eyes to two of my men, petrified three more, and turned one into a ferret."  
  
"If you hurt her I swear I'll-"  
  
"Crucio!"  
  
Harry felt white-hot fire searing every inch of him. He wanted to die and couldn't. He slumped to the floor.  
  
"Did you enjoy that? That was just a taste. I was wondering when you'd come. I was just getting ready to send my trolls to go play with you at Hogwarts."  
  
"Where is it?"  
  
"The Torch? Here it is." He lifted a box of dark metal and opened it. The Torch was there, waiting, unlit, "With this I could send you home at the bottom of the ocean or in a volcano. But instead I'll send you to Hogwarts. They'll find your mangled body in your own bed. Or maybe I won't kill you. Yet. I'll send you back under the Imperius Curse. You'll kill Dumbledore and you're friends before you kill yourself. I like that." He raised his wand.  
  
He had to stall. "Where does Pumblechook fit into all of this?"  
  
"Him? A mere tool in my design. Useful when needed and now disposed of. He was a bit unstable, had ideas of replacing me." He lifted his wand and took a breath.  
  
"Where's Renata?"  
  
"She's eating if you must know. Or rather not eating. She refuses to touch her plate. I plan to make her a Death Eater whether she wishes it or not. She won't have a choice. I'm not going to let her starve herself; she's too useful. No more questions."  
  
"Why did you kill her dad? That's why she hates you. Jonathan Delano. You killed him."  
  
"Did I? I don't remember. Delano.I think he was an Auror. I thought he was your parents' secret keeper. He wouldn't tell me where they were so I killed him. I didn't find out until after that that Wormtail was the secret keeper. I knew it'd be Delano or Black. The husband of Lilly's best friend or James's best friend. One or there other. Why your father was stupid enough to use Wormtail I'll never know. Now, it is your turn to die."  
  
Harry glared. Another person killed by Voldemort because of him. When was it going to stop? Harry did something very stupid then, but also very brave.  
  
Harry ran at Voldemort, catching him by surprise. He tackled him at the knees, bringing both of them to the ground. The Torch fell from Voldemort's hands. Harry wrestled to take the wand too.  
  
"Give up, boy," he whispered.  
  
"Never."  
  
Voldemort's wand snapped.  
  
"You'll pay for that!" They both abandoned the two pieces of broken wand and dove for the Torch.  
  
They struggled, hand to hand. Grappling for the Torch. Voldemort began to speak words that Harry couldn't catch. A wind came and rose to deafening volume. The swirling wall of green flame tried to draw them in. Voldemort got sucked in, screaming, "Death Eaters come to me!" and Harry kept his grip on the Torch and anything else he could grab onto.  
  
The nearly forty Death Eaters appeared out of nowhere and were sucked into the portal. Gone.  
  
He thought desperately, trying to remember the all-purpose cut off spell he'd learned long ago. "Finito!" The portal closed. Harry lay on the floor another minute, catching his breath.  
  
He got up, leaning on his elbows. He had to find his friends. He had to get them home. He tucked the Torch under his arm and stood up. Wondering which way to turn he picked left. Renata was left-handed and that was as good a reason as any to choose his direction. He found his wand and Renata's lying by the door. Bad guys seemed to get more careless everyday. He put Renata's wand in his sleeve and held his at the ready in case there was anybody who hadn't left when Voldemort had.  
  
Harry began to stroll through the corridors. He stopped at one particular room. A Death Eater stood there; Harry knew she must be, though she wore no mask. She turned around at his footsteps.  
  
Harry saw her and she would have been awfully pretty standing there with her long red hair and her silky black robes, she would have been pretty if she didn't look as though she was about to kill him. Harry took in his surroundings and was stunned by what he saw.  
  
Five identical Renatas lay side by side on the ground. All wearing black robes, their hair an identical shade of blonde like honey. None wore any makeup. They were identical, they could have been clones.  
  
The Death Eater glared at him while smiling nastily. "Yes, that chit is here. I poisoned her. I hate her! She pulled my hair. Threw food at me. The horrible wench. But she paid for it. It's an odd poison. You see, she won't begin to show signs for another half an hour. By the time she shows them, it will be too late for her. Here's the antidote," she pulled out an orange vial and held it just out of his reach; she was quite tall. "But there is only enough for one. Guess the wrong girl and your little friend here dies." She swept her hand over the lot of them. "Don't guess at all and she dies anyway. How's your luck? Can you guess?" She tossed the vial to Harry and snapped her fingers.  
  
Barely catching the precious vial that could save Renata's life, Harry watched the five get up. The woman, the Death Eater, slipped away but Harry couldn't let Renata die. Harry listened to them speak and watched their movements.  
  
"Where am I, Harry?" That wasn't Renata's walk.  
  
"Harry, save me." This one swung her arms too much.  
  
"Help me, Harry."  
  
"Harry, I need you." This one batted her eyelashes.  
  
"What's going on here? Someone is going to be crying when I get done with them!"  
  
That was it! Whoever had last spoken was the real Renata. Which one was it? "Which one of you is the real Renata?" It was worth a try.  
  
"I am," she fluttered her eyelashes at him. Definitely not Renata.  
  
"Liar! Me, stupid."  
  
"I'm Renata." She came and tried to take his hands, standing close.  
  
Harry grimaced, backing away. Not Renata. Not Renata. Not Renata.  
  
"Not me."  
  
"I'm Renata, you arrogant idiot."  
  
Harry sought out the one who had said that but at that moment the other four shifted. He lost her again. What could he ask? Harry grinned, "What do you think about girls playing Quiditch?"  
"Girls should be cheering for us in the stands, not on the field. That's a man's place." Definitely not Renata, not even a real female.  
  
"We have as much right to be on the field as you do. Chauvinistic pig. You've got no respect toward women."  
  
Who had said that? They all moved again. He'd have to keep an eye on them this time. Like that trick where you put a marble under one cup and moved it and the other two cups around and made someone try to guess which one had the marble. He'd never been very good at it. He had a wicked idea. This one would keep Renata talking longer and louder than the rest, long enough for him to be sure which one she was even if the rest traded places. "When did Renata kiss me?"  
  
One Renata said, "Valentines Day, sweetie."  
  
"Never!" said another.  
  
"I don't remember." This was the one who was batting her eyelashes at him again.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Harry saw one of the Renata's take on a glare that would kill if looks could kill and her face turned red. "I-did- not-kiss-you! You kissed me! How dare you? When I find my wand again you are going to be in so much trouble for even thinking such a thing, much the less for saying it. I swear, when I get my hands on you I am going to throw every curse I can think of. And if that's not enough I'll beat you with my fists, break your arms and your legs. You'll be lucky if I don't break you neck. Harry Potter, I'm going to-"  
  
She never got a chance to finish her sentence.  
  
The others had tried to get her lost in them but Harry knew which one she was now. He went straight to her, and took her by the arm. Dragging her away. She tried to kick him and was screaming. The others tried to stop him but he shouted, "Stupify! Stupify! Stupify! Stupify!" pointed his wand at the imitation Renatas. Harry looked again at the Renata he was holding on to. She looked no different from the others except for the familiar glare on her face. When he got outside the room he asked, "Now, tell me how I know you are you and not some imposter."  
  
"Harry, you know it's me. How many times did you have a leashing spell on me in our fifth year? How often have I read your mind? I know which card you sent me on Valentines Day. It's me."  
  
"How can I really be sure, without a test first?"  
  
"What are you going to do, Harry? Don't. Harry-"  
  
Harry bent down and kissed her, not really sure why he was and knowing that she would probably slap him afterwards. He didn't care. When he came away and looked down at her uncertainly, smiling a little, she looked like she was trying to decide whether to smack him or.did she want to kiss him again? Impossible.  
  
She seemed to make up her mind quickly enough. "Stop grinning like an idiot, Harry. I-" Her legs buckled underneath her and Harry had to catch her to keep her from hitting the ground. The poison! Harry knelt down on the ground lowering Renata with him.  
  
He held her head in one hand on his knee and using his teeth he opened the vial of orange liquid. "Open your mouth, Ren. Come on. Open up." He gently pried open her mouth and put the vial between her teeth. "Drink. Drink. Don't be too late. Please don't be too late." Harry sat there for two agonizing minutes, waiting for something to happen muttering all the while. "Wake up. You can't die on me. I won't let you die. Don't die. Please don't die."  
  
"I'm not going to die, Harry. I'm here." She smiled. "I won't die." She tried to sit up and he pushed her shoulder down.  
  
"Stay. Rest. Don't worry about anything. Just stay here. Ssh."  
  
"You have the Torch. We can get home, Harry. Hermione and Ron are waiting for us, they're safe. We can leave. I'm sorry I got captured. I didn't mean to. It was an accident. I threw a few good punches first though. Where's Voldemort?"  
  
Harry stroked her hair, trying to soothe her. She'd nearly died. She needed rest; she shouldn't be worrying like this. "It's okay. It's okay. He's gone. He got away. I sent him back to our world. I was going to chase him but I couldn't leave the three of you and Hagrid here..."  
  
"You chose to save us rather than to hunt him down?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Leave me here. Go after him. I'll be fine." She tried to sit up again and fell down weakly.  
  
"I'm not leaving you. What about Mr. Potter?"  
  
"Dead. He died when Ron and Hermione escaped. Go. Killing him is more important than saving me."  
  
"No it's not." Harry smiled ruefully. "If you weren't so tall I might be able to carry you to look for the others." He'd nearly said "so heavy", even though she wasn't fat, but he stopped himself just in time. The very last thing he needed was her screaming at him again.  
  
She pouted. "I can walk." With Harry's help she stood and then took a few tottering steps on her own. "See? I can walk."  
  
"Barely." He put his arm around her to help her walk. "Come on. Let's go find Hermione and Ron." Harry helped her limp back outside where she said Hermione and Ron were. Hagrid wasn't with them.  
  
"Where is he?" There was no need to ask which he.  
  
"Hagrid's.Hagrid's dead, Harry. We couldn't do anything. We got the key and unlocked him. More Death Eaters came, they carried you away and kicking and screaming, took Renata too. Though they had a hard time of that. We couldn't do anything. We tried. They killed Mr. Potter. Hagrid got so mad; he recognized him as your dad sort of, Hagrid picked us up and threw us out of the room. He told us to run. There was nothing we could do. When we went back inside, Renata was gone, you were gone, the Death Eaters were gone, and Hagrid was dead. I'm sorry, Harry." Ron spoke in a low voice. Hermione was crying. Harry suspected Ron was as near to tears as he himself was. Renata hadn't known Hagrid as long as the others but she had known and liked him too. She cried too.  
  
The four of them stood together, arms around each other, comforting themselves. Crying and with their heads on each other's shoulders.  
  
Hermione looked up. "They're in a better place. Where are Voldemort and the Death Eaters?"  
  
"Back in our world, somewhere. I don't know where exactly."  
  
Ron noticed at last the Torch, still under Harry's arm. Looking at it he asked, "So, do you know how to drive that thing?"  
  
"I think I remember the words. But let's get Hagrid, we can't leave him on this forsaken rock."  
  
They nodded agreement and left in search of their friend's body. They found him sprawled on the ground.  
  
Hermione said quietly, "I think they threw Mr. Potter's body in the ocean." It would be long gone by now, no way to retrieve it.  
  
With Hagrid's body and their bags, they assembled to return home. Harry kept one hand grasping the bar of a cell door and held out the Green Flame Torch with the other. If he went threw the portal first the others mine not make it threw and he didn't know how he'd be able to come back. He began to recite, willing the portal to open at Hogwarts. It opened, a mass of green flames pulling at them, sucking them all in, even Hagrid's massive body. Harry made sure his friend's were completely gone before he released his grip on the bar. It was just as well, he thought his fingers might detach from his hand if he held it longer. He was sucked through the portal, keeping his grip on his bag and broom, almost like security blankets, and above all else his grip on the Torch.  
  
He hit the ground with a thud. He may have blacked out for a few minutes but he saw familiar faces swimming above him. A pretty blonde girl. A man wearing a half-moon spectacles. That was Dumbledore. There was Snape. Unpleasant man. Where'd the pretty girl go?  
  
He tried to sit up.  
  
"No, no, no, Harry. Stay."  
  
Harry tried to glance at his surroundings. He had expected them to have him in the hospital, that's where he always seemed to wake up, but instead he was in Dumbledore's office, lying down on a couch. He didn't remember a couch in Dumbledore's office. Thoughts floated unconnected at the edges of his memory. Hagrid. Dead. His father. Dead. Ren's dad. Dead. Dead because of him. Everyone dead. Renata wasn't dead. That was good. He tried to smile.  
  
Harry heard footsteps approaching.  
  
"The patient should have been brought immediately to me like the others and the girl should have come with the first two. Gone for a week and who knows what could have happened." She gently but firmly lifted his head and poured a vile tasting liquid down his throat; he didn't bother resisting, it never helped and Madam Pomfrey's concoctions always worked that he could remember. But right now he couldn't remember much. His head hurt.  
  
He hadn't needed to see her face to know it was her; of course it would be her, they'd never send Snape to come help a sick person. That was funny, Snape actually healing Harry.  
  
A voice like an angel said, "Harry, you got us back safely. Are you all right, Harry? Harry? Are you okay? Harry-"  
  
"Away from the patient. He needs rest. Out, now. Miss Delano, I assure you that-"  
  
Harry didn't hear the rest. He was tired. Couldn't keep his eyes open..  
  
Harry expected to wake in the hospital but instead found himself still on the couch in Dumbledore's office.  
  
"Ah, good morning, Harry. Nice to see you awake. I've managed to get most of the story of your escapades from your friends, though if you are up to it I'd love to hear your tale. I know there are people anxious to see you. You've been gone a week. How are you feeling?"  
  
"Did any one write to Ron's mum?" Mrs. Weasly had always treated Harry like her own sons since as long as he'd known her. "And Renata's? And Hermione's parents?" They would be worried about their daughters. No chance the Dursleys would worry about him, if they'd even been told. He doubted they had. They'd probably be disappointed that he'd had yet another near death experience that did manage to kill him properly. "Did anyone talk to Sirius yet?"  
  
"Concerned over your friends as always. Yes, the fastest owls were sent to inform them of your return and Snape was here when you popped in yesterday. It was quite a surprise to have three students, luggage, and Hagrid appear in my office while I was having a discussion with him. After just getting over the shock of seeing the rest of them, you appear." He smiled a friendly and comforting smile.  
  
Harry started at the beginning. "We left the table at Valentines Day to go to class and." He told the whole story from start to finish, omitting of course his kissing Renata. That wasn't Dumbledore's business. "And so that's how we ended up back here." He was surprised to find his voice hoarse when he asked, "Some things can't be changed, Professor, can they?"  
  
"I don't think so, Harry. There are some things that are meant to be, no matter what."  
  
"Professor, even there, they died, and it was my fault. My dad died after I did in that world and it was still my fault he was dead." He had omitted something earlier and with a heart like lead, said it now, "It's my fault Renata doesn't have her dad. Sort of my fault anyway. Voldemort knew that either one of the Delanos or Sirius was my parents' secret-keeper. By the time that Wormtail said he was, Jonathan Delano was already dead."  
  
"I'm sorry, Harry."  
  
"I'm sorry doesn't do anything, sir. I'm sorry that Hagrid's dead, that Voldemort is alive, that I live with the Dursleys, and that my cousin is the size of a young whale but that doesn't change any facts. I'm sorry isn't good enough. I'm sorry isn't worth anything. Wherever the Torch is, I don't want it. Keep it, destroy it, I don't want to see it again. Ever."  
  
"Harry, you don't know how long it took to pry it from your hands. Ron and Hermione hardly agreed to leave your side. They are in the hospital, now, Madam Pomfrey wanted to keep them overnight to make sure nothing had happened. Renata refused to leave you here until Professor McGonagall all but dragged her off by her ear. Madam Pomfrey wanted you in the infirmary as well but I convinced her to let you stay here and promised that I would look after you."  
  
Harry saw his schoolbag lying on the floor near the couch, still stuffed full of the things he'd gotten in the other world. Right now he want to set fire to whatever was in there.  
  
"Treasure from your little adventure?" Dumbledore lifted the bag and put it in his lap. Harry tried to sit up to see better. "That Silver Arrow really interested Madam Hooch."  
  
Harry remembered something he'd her say once, "She said she learned to fly on one. Thought it was a shame they weren't made anymore. If she wants it, she can have it."  
  
"I'll let her know."  
  
Harry settled back further into the couch but still remained sitting. "Can I see my bag? I don't really remember half of what's in there."  
  
There was a knock at the door.  
  
"Come in," Harry saw Dumbledore's gaze shift to the door. Harry was facing the opposite wall and didn't see the man who entered. "Harry, I must be going. Important Headmaster things to do. I'll see about having someone discover all of your missing assignments." His eyes twinkled behind their half moon spectacles.  
  
Sirius came and took Dumbledore's place by his side. "Harry, are you okay? We were all worried when you and Ron and Hermione and Renata and Pumblechook disappeared. I should have known he'd had something to do with him. I didn't like the looks of him from the start." The lines etched in his brow and the frown that had been growing disappeared as though they had never existed and he threw back his head and laughed. "Boy, you're gone a week and look at that stuff growing all over your face."  
  
Unconsciously, Harry's hand went to the lower half of his face. He needed a razor badly. He was sure the week of growth was probably starting to look more like a scruffy beard and a mustache. He'd take care of it tonight. None of the other boys in his dorm kept any facial hair. "Sirius, it's good to see you too. Can you hand me my book-bag?"  
  
"Here. It's heavy. What do you have in here, rocks?"  
  
"No." Harry started pulling things out. Two cloaks, a set of Hogwarts robes, the light blue pajamas Renata had teased him about, the letters and journal from the dormitory of the other Hogwarts, the compass, and the first aid kit Hermione had found. Wonder of all wonders his own schoolbooks had survived the trip too.  
  
Sirius read through the letters and flipped through the diary. Looking up at Harry, confused, he asked, "What happened there, Harry? Dumbledore wouldn't give me the story and Madam Pomfrey hasn't let me in to speak to the other three."  
  
Harry told the story again, but in fewer words than Dumbledore had heard it. "Pumblechook came up behind us with the Green Flame Torch and sent us into another world." Harry pointed to the cabinet across the room. Dumbledore's Penseive was kept there with a few other things of danger and importance. Harry knew that's where the Torch would be. "We spent nearly a week wandering around Hogwarts in that world. It had been deserted for decades. We searched all the rooms, the library, the laundry room, the kitchen, everywhere for anything that could help us get back here. Pumblechook and the Torch were long gone. That isn't even his name. It's Lars Liechtenstein. He tortures people for fun, he was behind the attacks this year. Finally we found out how to do a location spell to find out where they'd taken Azkaban and how to teleport there."  
  
Sirius's eyes widened, "Teleportation has been considered a lost art for nearly two hundred years. How did you do it?"  
  
"I don't know. But, together we managed to reach Godric's Hollow. I went looking for my parents."  
  
"Maybe that's it. Every other witch and wizard as tried alone but the four of you worked together. What did you find in Godric's Hollow?"  
  
"My dad."  
  
"James.alive?" he asked hoarsely.  
  
Harry nodded. "My mum was dead. Died and then I went to kill Voldemort for betraying her to the Muggles. They knew all about us. They were in control. Death or enslavement to anyone known to be a witch or wizard. Apparently my counterpart there killed Voldemort but died in the process. Then we went to Azkaban. Before we went, he offered to let us stay with him. My dad did. Forever. If we couldn't find the Torch. I told him I couldn't because it wasn't my home. I offered to take him home here but he said it wasn't his place. He didn't have the same memories that my dad did. Different worlds."  
  
"He's right though. His place isn't here."  
  
"It doesn't matter. He died at Azkaban anyway. Died with Hagrid. Trying to save the rest of us."  
  
"They got Hagrid? No."  
  
"Yes. They did. I was hauled off and brought face to face with Voldemort. I sent him back here. This world. I don't know where. Most of the Death Eaters went too. He called them and they came to him and went wherever he did. They hauled off Renata too. Poisoned her. Then had four look-alikes with her and I had to figure out which one she was. I was given enough of the antidote for one person. If I had guessed wrong she would have died." Harry grinned, remembering; that last had been fun if nothing else had been.  
  
"How did you figure which she was? She's not dead, is she?"  
  
"No, not dead yet, but likely will be the death of me." Sirius looked at him with something between amusement and confusion. Harry didn't explain himself. "I figured it out by.creative questioning."  
  
Sirius grinned. "What did you do, ask her what she thought of you?"  
  
"Something like that."  
  
"I'm supposed to take you to the hospital. Madam Pomfrey wants to be sure there's nothing wrong with you. No more wrong than usual anyway." He pulled the blankets off of Harry and handed him his shoes. He walked with him to the hospital wing. Harry hated this place but was grateful to all Madam Pomfrey had done for him with his various injuries and ailments over the past six years. He needed to see his friends again, too. To make sure they were okay. 


	25. Hermione's Parents and a Day Out

Sirius claimed he had to go back to teach a class and so as Harry entered alone, he heard voices coming from behind the curtain pulled around the first bed and paused by the door.  
"Hermione, I'm not sure that we should send you back here next year. This isn't the first time you've been in so much danger. Though we hadn't realized how much danger before. You were stolen away from the school. It's not safe here. You should been finishing up secondary school and going on to a University, not messing with magic here." He said "magic" as though it were still a foreign word.  
"Your father's right. We've discussed this thoroughly. We miss you. Your sister misses you. You've been growing apart lately."  
"Mum, Dad, you told me six years ago that it was my decision: to come or not to come. I chose to come and I stay with that decision. She's just having a harder time accepting me this way than we thought she would. I still choose here."  
"Why, Hermione?" asked her father in a pained voice.  
"I have friends here. There's Ron and Harry. And Renata. She's great. They all are. I'm learning a lot more than books. I've grown here. I'm more than just books. I'm a person. I've got friends, I've kept my grades up, I've learned all sorts of new things, I'm braver than I was, I'm even a cheerleader. You've got to let me come back."  
"It's not safe."  
"Don't you want to be normal again? You graduated first in your class from your first school. Wouldn't you like that again?"  
"Mum, I am the first in my class here. I don't want to be normal. Not your definition of it anyway. This is who I am now. I can't let you change that. I'm a witch whether you like it or not. This is where I belong, here I am normal and I don't have to hide who I am. I won't hide anymore."  
"We will not let you come back here."  
"You can't stop me. If you won't let me come back here don't expect to see me at the station at the end of term."  
There was a long silence. Hermione sighed. "Write me. Write before school's out or you may not see me at the station. I could arrange to stay here over the summer. Or stay with a teacher. I've been discussing it with them."  
"Hermione..."  
"Go home and think about this, Mum, Dad. You'll see I'm right."  
Harry heard the scraping of chairs inside and footsteps approaching. He began to walk again as though he was just entering. Hermione's parents walked out as if he didn't exist. As if on cue, Madam Pomfrey appeared.  
"Where have you been, young man? I told Albus-I'm sorry, I mean the Headmaster-to send you to me as soon as you were awake. I'm waiting for an explanation." She didn't really wait. She took him by the arm and led him to an empty between Hermione and Renata. Ron was on the other side of Renata.  
"Get in bed. You need rest. Take off your shoes. Tsk.tsk. Did you have a fall? This ankle looks swollen."  
"Earlier this week, I fell."  
"Here. Take this thermometer. In your mouth. I'll be back."  
Harry stuck the thermometer in his mouth. It beeped at 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit; he wondered why Hogwarts didn't use the metric system.  
"Was she this psychotic with the rest of you?"  
Hermione had moved aside the curtains. "Pretty much. Harry, we're so glad you're okay!" Hermione and Renata both got out of their beds and gave him tight hugs not releasing him until he couldn't breathe.  
"Are you all right, Harry?' Renata had let go but still stood close by. "You saved me," she whispered.  
Ron got out of his bed and came to stand next to Hermione. "You got us home, Harry."  
"If it weren't for the three of you I'd still be at that other Hogwarts wondering why I was exiled there or probably dead by now." He remembered Voldemort's comment about sending the trolls out to play. He tried not to shiver. "I would be dead now." Dead like his parents, dead like Cedric, dead like Renata's dead. Dead.  
"Well, you aren't and I don't know about these two but I'm not letting you die any time soon. At least, not until you help win the Quiditch Cup."  
"That's right. There's no way we're letting those rotten, dirty Slytherins get it," Ron said vehemently. He continued to mutter about the "bloody no-good, cheaters" but Harry didn't pay attention.  
"You're all okay, right?"  
"We're fine."  
After dinner Madam Pomfrey released them after a final checkup for each. "Oh, and before I forget, the Headmaster wanted you to have these." She handed a sealed envelope to each of them.  
They thanked her and opened the envelopes as soon as they were in the hallway.  
Harry tore open the envelope. Mr. Potter, you will not have to attend your lessons tomorrow due to your special circumstances and your need to rest, but you will be back in class on Friday. Rest well. The Headmaster had signed it.  
His friends each had an identical note addressed to them. "Yes, no school tomorrow!" Ron shouted. "No class, no class, no class." He started dancing to music the rest of them obviously couldn't hear.  
"Are you all right, Ron?" asked Harry. He was doubled over laughing, with his head raised just enough to see Ron's face.  
Ron froze. "I'm fine." His face went red.  
Renata laughed, "Let's get back to the Tower."  
The four of them, in great spirits, returned to the Gryffindor common room.  
Harry sighed with relief as he came in the common room; it was unchanged. "It's good to be home." His friends nodded. Together they sat back by the window, going over the events of the week they had just spent. Most of the students were still at dinner but the few who were already back had taken the good armchairs near the fire, they couldn't have been in more than their second year. Harry knew that his friends most likely had heard the conversation he had between Hermione and her parents but she didn't bring it up and neither did they.  
"Sirius told me that teleportation has been lost for a long time. Nobody could remember how to make it work."  
"Then why were we able to?"  
"I think it had something to do with us being in a group. One or two people couldn't teleport, but more together."  
"Exactly." Hermione nodded in a satisfied way.  
People began to stream back into the common room. Coming in small groups. Sitting far to the back, almost none noticed Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Renata talking quietly amongst themselves. Harry hoped it'd stay that way.  
"We've got get-out-of-class-without-getting-detention notes. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Ron.  
Harry grinned. "Yeah, Hogsmeade."  
Renata laughed. "Great. I've been dying for more of that Honeyduke's chocolate. Yum. I'm buying five pounds of it tomorrow."  
"Don't eat it all in one night or you'll get sick," warned Hermione. "You don't want to get sick, we do have to go to class on Friday. I'm not sure we should skip class tomorrow after all we missed so far."  
"Hermione, we missed a week, what difference can one day more make?" asked Ron. "Just a minute, Ginny," he said absently. His eyes widened. "Ginny! What are you doing here?"  
"When did all of you get back? What happened?" She demanded. "Mum's been worried sick. Apparently someone told her you were back, I add that they did not bother to tell me, but I guess they told her because I got an owl this morning saying that she was coming tomorrow."  
Tomorrow? That could ruin their plans. "What time, Ginny? What time did she say she'd come?"  
"I don't know, Harry. Around noon, I guess. She said she'd have lunch with me a soon as she got here and then spend the day with you and Ron." Ginny sniffed. "None of you even bothered to say hello or tell me where you've been."  
"What did Dumbledore tell the rest of you?"  
"Only that you three had been kidnapped and that if anyone knew where you were they were to inform a teacher immediately. What really happened? You were gone a week. I'm so glad you're all safe." This last comment seemed more directed at her brother and Hermione than at the other two.  
"I've got a stomachache. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Harry got up and walked to the stairs to his dormitory. He wasn't in the mood to discuss the past week with her. Some of the memories were too painful. Particularly Hagrid. Harry lay down eagle spread on the bed. He wasn't particularly tired. It was early yet. He wondered absently whether they'd still be able to go to Hogsmeade. Maybe he could sneak out tomorrow night and get Renata some chocolate if they couldn't all go during the day.  
It was probably an hour later that Dean and Seamus came in, followed shortly by Ron who slammed the door and muttered angrily about Anthony. He locked the door behind him.  
Harry supposed that Anthony had been flirting Hermione, again, and Ron hadn't taken it well.  
"So where were you four really?"  
"Yeah. Why did you disappear with two girls? You were gone a week."  
"We were kidnapped," Harry told them bluntly.  
"We heard. We were just checking."  
"What happened? Where did you go?"  
"You remember all those rumors about the Green Flame Torch? They were true. It pulled us into an alternate world where Hogwarts was abandoned fifty something years ago and Muggles knew wizards and witches existed. It was horrible. Hogwarts was closed and everyday, witches and wizards feared for their lives. Hagrid was there. They'd captured him months ago and he died there. Died saving us. Finally we got back here. That's all you need to know." He told this all in cold words and watched as their mouths hung open in amazement.  
There was a pounding on the door and a muffled cry of, "Let me in! What are you doing? I'm tired! Let me in!"  
Harry glared, first at the door and then at Seamus. "Open the bloody door and make him shut up!" he barked. He was surprised at himself. Normally he kept a better reign on his temper and didn't use such language. What was even more shocking was the fact that Seamus listened to him.  
Seamus scrambled up to open the door. Anthony had been leaning against it as he pounded and fell into the room in a disheveled manner.  
"That was not very nice. All I wanted to do was talk to her, Ron. You had no call to go hitting me like that or locking me out. This is my room too."  
Only then did Harry notice the bruise beginning to show under the boy's left eye.  
He stood and walked over to his bed, sitting on the end of it and removing his shoes. "I don't see why you should mind me talking to her. She didn't mind it. And you didn't mind when I was talking to Renata."  
Ron fixed Anthony with such a fierce look and snarl that the other boy seemed to cringe back, though he sounded cool and composed when he said, "Goodnight. I'll see you in class tomorrow, Ron. Though I think I'll be talking to Hermione. You don't mind, do you? Her and I have quite a bit to catch up on."  
Ron leaned over and muttered in Harry's ear, "This one's worse than Krum! He speaks perfect English, Krum couldn't even get Hermione's name right."  
Harry groaned quietly as he pulled the blankets over himself. He knew that if Hermione went to class tomorrow Ron would go to class tomorrow and if Ron went to class tomorrow he would have to go to make sure Ron didn't kill Anthony. Well, Ron wouldn't kill him, probably not anyway, but he might severely hurt him and the last thing Harry wanted was for his best friend to get expelled from Hogwarts for fighting with another student.  
Harry sighed; he'd have to speak to the Quiditch team tomorrow too. Without he and Renata they probably hadn't practiced all week. ***************************************************  
Harry was up before Ron the next morning and he hoped up before Hermione and Renata. He waited in the common room for them. He had to know if Hermione was going to class or not.  
Finally she came. Renata yawning behind her. "Harry, I thought you'd be sleeping in today. According to Ginny, Mrs. Weasly isn't coming to see you and Ron until noon."  
"Are you going to class today?" he asked, foul temperedly.  
"No. Why? We have the day off still, don't we?"  
"Just checking. Yesterday you weren't sure you were willing to miss class."  
"We're going to Hogsmeade, but we'll have to be back before noon otherwise Mrs. Weasly will know that you and Ron snuck away from the school."  
"Right. I'm just waiting for Ron." He didn't have to wait long; Ron came down shortly.  
"Are we going via Shrieking Shack or Honeydukes?"  
"Why do you even ask? Honeydukes is too risky. The four of us better hightail it to the Whomping Willow on the double."  
The four of them did just that, walking across the grounds to the Whomping Willow tree with all it's flailing limbs. After freezing the tree in place they snuck in through the secret entrance and walked along the underground tunnel. It was a long walk, but certainly safer than entering Hogsmeade through the basement in Honeydukes. Eventually they came to a set of stairs and a door. They entered and found themselves inside a dust- covered room in the Shrieking Shack.  
Remus Lupin was a werewolf, a wizard too, he had gone to study at Hogwarts. During his monthly transformations Dumbledore and the school nurse smuggled him out through the tunnel and into this house. His transformations were not pleasant, they were painful in fact and he howled and caused such a ruckus that the villagers of Hogsmeade did believe it to be haunted. Harry knew the Shrieking Shack was still supposedly the most haunted building in all Britain even though it had been silent for years. Now Lupin had a newly developed potion he took monthly to make him as docile as a lamb when he transformed. While working at Hogwarts he took the potion and curled up calmly in his office.  
Harry peered out a little corner of the window that he cleared of dust with his sleeve, a small enough hole for him to see out of. There was no one out there. Sometimes people did come to see the most haunted building in Britain, even though they had no way to get in, but it was mostly students that did that and they were all at school today.  
"All clear. Let's go." Harry unlocked the door and they left. Quickly making their way down from the hill and into the village of Hogsmeade.  
"Honeydukes first," announced Renata. "I've got a craving for some major chocolate."  
"Right. Honeydukes first and then Zonkos," Ron said. "Somebody's got some heavy duty payback coming his way."  
Harry had a feeling who exactly it was Ron intending on paying back. "Well we have to be back here by eleven. I'm not taking any chances about how long it will take us to get back to Hogwarts." Just maybe there wouldn't be time for Zonkos. "And I want to stop at the Three Broomsticks."  
"Me too."  
"Then we'd better get going. We've only got an hour and a half."  
The four of them trudged down the hill and into the village. Honeydukes was their first stop. Both of Hermione's parents were dentists and being very conscientious of her teeth she didn't buy much candy and she deliberated a long while about which kinds to get. Ron was looking at some Pepper Imps. Harry could just imagine Ron slipping one or two of those where Anthony might happen to eat them without knowing what they were; if that happened Anthony would be sorry.  
Harry looked for his favorite candies. It just so happened that Droobles Best Blowing Bubblegum was right next to the large slabs of Honeydukes special chocolate. Right where Renata was.  
She arched an eyebrow at him and asked, "Do you know the real reason that Hermione isn't in class today? I do."  
"No, I don't. But I've got a good guess." He picked up a slab of chocolate and some of Droobles Best-Blowing Bubblegum. Maybe Hermione guessed that Ron wanted to pulverize Anthony, there'd been a lot of tension between Ron and Anthony all year and it was impossible for it to have been completely unnoticed.  
"Anthony. He was flirting her. He tried to flirt a little with me too until I started calling him Annie, he hated that." She grinned as though causing Anthony misery had been the highlight her evening, and her it may have been. "Sure Hermione was polite to him last night but that's really all it was on her part. When I said I was going to leave to go upstairs, Anthony said he'd stay in the common room to keep Hermione company. You should have seen the way she glared at me! She was so mad at me. She could have killed a Nazgul with that stare. So I pretended I didn't feel well and Hermione helped me up the stairs. I looked back over my shoulder at Anthony just long enough to grin at him and say to him, 'Goodnight, Annie'." She giggled and picked up a few bars of Honeydukes chocolate. Giggling was very unlike her. "Anthony was trying to talk me into trading seats with him in all our classes for today so he could sit by Hermione. He said they had a lot of catching up to do. I told him I would trade with him today but Friday I'd be trading seats with Ron. He didn't like that one bit." She laughed; it was a rich and full sound.  
Harry saw her reason for laughing and couldn't help but laugh too. Anthony would have had claims to sit by Hermione today in class, but Hermione wasn't in class. Tomorrow she would be but Renata had already claimed the seat next to Hermione on Ron's behalf.  
"Okay. So other than to make that git mad, why did you offer the seat to Ron for tomorrow?" He saw her eyes flicker toward Ron and Hermione.  
"I thought I'd help him out a bit. Boys flounder if unaided. He never knows how to tell her anything."  
Harry scoffed and glared at her. " 'Boys flounder'? What's that supposed to mean?"  
"Harry, if you can't figure it out I am not about to tell you. You're as dense as the red-haired dolt is."  
Harry couldn't decide which he was madder about, her calling him a dense dolt or her calling his friend a dense dolt; either way, he was angry. "Now, just wait one minute, I-"  
"You are such an idiot." She laughed again, though Harry thought it was more of a giggle this time. Again, very unlike her. "But don't worry, Harry; you being an idiot isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's rather interesting, certainly more fun for me that way." She smiled.  
Harry watched her warily, uncertain of just what she meant. Sometimes he was sure Renata was really a viper, waiting to strike him; other times he was sure she was as docile as lamb. The rest of the time he was sure she was fate's way of paying him back for every mean thought he'd ever had toward anyone, even Draco and Dudley, and fate's way of keeping him from getting a swelled head from all the attention he got sometimes. With her around it was a fat chance that his ego would get big enough to need any deflating. "I- I- I'm going to go pay for my candy now." He swallowed involuntarily and shivered. He stalked away, to the counter and paid for his sweets. As he passed Ron and Hermione, Hermione trying to get Ron to help her decide on which type of candy to buy, he told them he would be waiting for them at the Three Broomsticks and quickly walked away clutching his bag of sweets. 


	26. Confusion

Harry had the uncanny feeling he was being followed. He had no doubt about whom it was, even if he hadn't been able to smell the peach shampoo, he would have known. He was finally in front of the door of the Three Broomsticks and without even bothering to turn around and with his hand on the door, he sighed and asked, "What do you want, Renata?"  
"Nothing."  
He turned and found her smiling. She had a nice smile it was true, but why was it that she was always either smiling like that or glaring at him? The smile made him so nervous as often as not and the way she glared it felt like she was drilling holes in his skull with lasers. He shivered again despite the warm spring weather.  
"You know we haven't talked about when we were in that other world," he tried to sound casual and knew he failed.  
She stepped in front of him and opened the door, if he'd moved back a second later she would have hit him in the head with it. He wondered if it was intentional or not, either way he followed her inside. They ordered Butterbeers, they weren't alcoholic, and they were as beer-like as root beer was. They got a table and sat down.  
"So what about that other world?" she asked this so levelly and so casually that Harry could almost believe she had no idea why he was asking her at all and that nothing out of the ordinary had happened. She pulled the metal cap off her Butterbeer and tossed it back over her shoulder in an easy-going fashion.  
"Well," he's said awkwardly, "about the way I acted. What I did." He was referring to kissing her. He had liked it, a lot. It was the second time he'd kissed her this year, not that he was sure she'd wanted him to kiss her either time. He hadn't really been able to identify her reaction either time though he was fairly sure she'd kissed him back. At least, he thought so; he'd never kissed anyone else before.  
"I understand completely. You had to be sure I was the right person and not an imposter like those other four who looked and sounded like me." She smiled sweetly and said this all as though her answers alone hadn't been enough to identify her. The first answer alone had been enough if he could have been able to tell which of them had spoken. She should have known that already.  
Harry watched her suspiciously. This had to be a trap. She was never this nice, almost never this nice anyway. "And about Christmas?" he asked nervously.  
"There was mistletoe. You did what any boy finding himself under mistletoe with a girl would. You kissed her. After all, I dared you to kiss someone anyway and what better opportunity than when you find a girl standing under some mistletoe?"  
This was too much. It had to be a trap of some sort. What was she trying to get him to say? Or admit to? If she thought she could get him to admit that he liked her before she admitted to liking him then she had another thing coming. Maybe this would unbalance her. Unlikely but maybe. "What would you say if I did that again?"  
"What do you think I'd say?" she cocked her head to the side and gazed intently at him.  
"I.I.I don't know." He hadn't expected that, he should have but he didn't. He tried to regain the upper hand or at least an even footing; he wasn't sure he ever had the upper hand with Renata. He wasn't sure anyone ever had the upper hand with her. "What if I did that now?"  
"You mean what if, we were just sitting here, talking and as polite as can be and you moved your chair closer to me, much closer. Like this," she shifted her chair over so that it was very close to him, he could feel her breath on him and smell her hair and it wasn't unpleasant. "And then, what if you brought your face over near mine. Like this." She brought her face up towards his, her smooth pink lips less than an inch away from his.  
Harry couldn't help it. Really he couldn't. He bent his head down the half an inch he needed to and he kissed her lips. They were sweet. She was definitely kissing him back this time; there was no mistake about that. When he finally drew back away from her-though he wouldn't have drawn back at all if it hadn't been that he needed more air and he wanted to see her reaction-and opened his eyes he could have sworn there was a faint smile playing on her mouth before her face became an unreadable mask.  
Harry said softly, "So? If I did move close to you, bring my face near you, and kiss you, then what would you do about it?"  
"I.I.I'd tell you how inappropriate you were to have been kissing me like that without asking my opinion in the matter and being in public. That's what I'd do." Her voice was unsteady at first but soon became as sharp as Professor McGonagall's voice ever was. She moved as far away from him as she could without moving her where her seat was. "Isn't that right, Hermione?"  
Harry looked up and found Ron and Hermione staring at him. How long had they been there? His face reddened horribly and he knew it. He said uncomfortably, "Sit. Order some Butterbeers and then we can go to Zonkos." He pulled out the chair on his other side. "Sit!" Now it was a desperate plea, anything to end the awkward silence.  
"Ron and I are going to go order drinks. We'll be right back." Hermione sniffed as she turned her back on them, she had obviously disapproved.  
As soon as they were gone, Harry whispered furiously, "How long?"  
"What?" she asked clearly startled at the ferocity in his voice, she seemed like she could possibly even be frightened. His face was a mask of wrath and still very close to hers.  
"How long were they standing there before you stopped kissing me?" he demanded.  
She scoffed, "Me kissing you? Not likely. I was just sitting here and you had the nerve to-"  
"Shut-up!" That had been a rotten trick. He moved his chair as far from her as he could. Really rotten. She had made it seem like she was going to kiss him and she wanted him to kiss her and then she accused him of it being completely his own idea and doing. The nerve! "You are going to tell me how long were they standing there, Renata Delano."  
"I don't know how long they were standing there. I.I didn't realize they were there until after you moved away and I opened my eyes."  
This was just great. Ron and Hermione had probably seen the whole thing. He had just leaned down and kissed her like that. In public none the less! What had he been thinking? What was he going to do? They'd never let him live it down. But he had to know. "So? What did you think?"  
"I.I.I already told you. That's all there is to it." She seemed like she was trying to glare at him but seemed unable to focus.  
Torture. She seems like she likes him and then she tries to hit him with a verbal lashing and a killer stare, though for once she actually failed at both, her voice quavered and her stare wavered. Well, he wasn't going to tell her he liked her, not until she said something definite first or stopped sending him such mixed signals. He wasn't about to make a fool of himself, not again, not for her or any other girl. He couldn't put up with it.  
Ron and Hermione came back with their Butterbeers and sat at the table. Harry was worried they'd ask for some sort of explanation, he didn't have one to give them. They didn't ask.  
"After we finish up here we're going to Zonkos. I have a few things to pick up," Ron said.  
Harry had an idea he knew what sort of things Ron wanted to pick up. He didn't care. He was grateful that it seemed Ron and Hermione had made an agreement when they got their drinks that they wouldn't speak of what they had seen, at least, not here they wouldn't. Harry drained his glass and stood, barely remembering to grab his bag from Honeydukes. "I'll meet you all there when you're done."  
He walked away before anyone could stop him. That would be the last thing he needed. He heard Ron noisily drain his glass, set it on the table, and reach the door just behind him.  
"Harry, you're going to explain yourself, aren't you?" Ron asked, drawing even with him.  
"That depends on how long you were standing there before we noticed you."  
"Long enough, Harry. Long enough. So what gives? Did she finally tell you what she thinks or did you break down and tell her? I'm telling you, you're both too stubborn for your own good."  
"Well, er, would you believe I was giving her CPR?" he asked without much hope.  
"Harry, do you think I'm five years old or something?" he asked indignantly.  
"No, didn't think that would work. The truth is.it was all her fault!"  
"How do you figure that? I saw you kissing her, no matter who started it you did kiss her."  
"She kissed me back," he said bitterly, and I liked it, he thought. He shoved that thought to the back of his mind, now was not the time for it. "Well, I.I didn't tell you the whole story about when I found Renata in Azkaban. I told you about how they poisoned Renata and used, probably a Polyjuice potion, to have four imposter Renatas to confuse me and keep me from knowing which one was her. I told you they said she'd die if I didn't figure out the right one soon enough. Well, I tried to ask questions to figure out who was who, and then, as a deciding vote kind of thing to make sure I had the right girl I.I kissed her. I couldn't tell if she was mad or happy or what and now that we're back here she's giving me mixed signals again. One minute moving herself really close to me as though she wants me to kiss her and the next ready to kill me with a glare or our start verbally abusing me. She's awful she is. I'm not putting up with it anymore!"  
Ron blinked in surprise. "So what exactly happened in there?"  
"I don't know," Harry moaned. "I don't. We were sitting there with our Butterbeers and I brought up Azkaban and-"  
"What the heck did you do that for? Let sleeping dragons lie, Harry. That's what I always say. She seemed not to care about it so you shouldn't have brought it up, it's just asking for trouble." He sighed. "Then what happened?"  
"I was an idiot and asked what she thought about it."  
"Ooh. Never do that."  
"Yeah. Thanks for the warning." They entered the shop. "You know how she pretends to act all innocent sometimes. She asked what I thought. I didn't have an answer. So I asked what she would do if I did that again. Bad idea. Very bad idea." He shook his head and picked up what looked like a set of Gobstones but he knew better than to think that that was all that they were. He read the package and saw that any time you touched one smoke came out. "Well then she started playing games. She asked, 'You mean what if I came really close to you like this?' and she did, and then she tilted her head upward and asked, 'and if I did this?' and then what choice did I have?"  
"You could have backed away very quickly! That's what I would have done, mate; that's what you should have done. She's crazy, she is."  
"Oh, Ron. You've seen Renata. You know her as well as I do. Almost as well as I do anyway." He gave a weak smile. "I couldn't help myself. She's so beautiful. And she's strong-willed. I could tell that she was trying to get me to kiss her. Ron, what am I going to do? I can't put up with this until June, much less until the end of next June."  
"Harry, I suggest you and her stop playing games and you tell her how you feel. It doesn't matter how pretty she is or how good at Quiditch. We've been telling you that since the fifth year! We all told you. Repeatedly we told you. You didn't listen. Stop playing games with her and tell her the truth if you know what's good for you." He gave a nod as though that should settle things indefinitely.  
"And since when did you become the expert on women?" he demanded.  
"Obviously you've got some respect for me, you're asking my advice," Ron retorted.  
Harry changed the subject, he'd had enough of this and he suspected he might hear something of it from Hermione too later on. He was not in the mood for another reprimand from his best friend so he moved on to a safer subject, safer so long as Hermione never heard about it at least. "So how are you planning at getting back at Anthony?"  
"He's afraid of mice. I got that information from Dean. Apparently in potions one day last week they had to use cut up mice and Anthony wouldn't look at the potion all class. Dean got stuck with all the work. Said Anthony actually shrieked when he first saw the mouse. These little rubber ones," he shook a box under Harry's nose. "These will turn alive for about a minute and a half when they get exposed to light. All I have to do is hide them in Anthony's bed or in his book bag. I've got some Pepper Imps too. I'm going to break them into little pieces drop them into Anthony's breakfast when he's not looking." He continued on with the list of awful things he wanted to do to Anthony.  
"Well you'll like this. Renata promised Anthony that she'd give up her seat next Hermione in all her classes today so he could sit next to Hermione. But we aren't in class today. She said that tomorrow she was giving up her seat to you."  
Ron's eyes widened in horror.  
"What's wrong?"  
"You do realize who that means is sitting next to you, don't you?"  
Harry's jaw just hung open. "No!" He'd be sitting next to Renata. "I think I'm going to be mysteriously ill tomorrow before class." He clutched his stomach; he felt ill just thinking about it.  
"Oh no you won't. You have to face her sooner or later. Better sooner than later, I say."  
"But-"  
"She'll get worse. Trust me on this, Harry."  
"But-"  
"Harry, there's no 'buts' about it."  
"The girls are waiting outside for us. It's time to leave or we'll be late to meet your mum."  
"Right." They paid for their things and went out to meet Hermione and Renata. "C'mon. We're going to be late if we don't leave now."  
The four were silent all the way back to Hogwarts. Harry suspected Renata had probably had a discussion with Hermione similar to the one he had had with Ron and suspected Hermione might lecture him later on. But he knew that nothing would be changed between them because Renata was at least as stubborn as himself. Well, he thought grimly, I'm not telling her first! Make her come tell me. **************************************************************  
They found Mrs. Weasly waiting in the Great Hall and the students flooding in for lunch.  
"There you are!" She hugged each of them by turn. "I was wondering."  
"We were walking the grounds."  
"Yes, well I'm glad you're here now. I've missed you all. Ginny is already waiting. Harry, dear, that's a very nice look on you." Harry still hadn't gotten around to shaving yet. She led them over to the table. Harry and Ron sitting on either side of her with Renata and Hermione of their other sides and Ginny sitting across from her. "Isn't this just wonderful? How has your term been? Tell me all about it."  
She seemed to want to hear about everything, or just about everything. When Ron tried to bring up their little trip into the other world and to Azkaban she replied, "Now, Ron, don't go spoiling a perfectly good lunch with talk about that. You're scaring your sister." She leaned over and fussed with the collar on Ginny's robes.  
"No, he's not, Mum. He already told me-" Ginny started and tried to move away her mother's hand.  
Mrs. Weasly returned to sitting in her seat with her hands folded but said firmly but with at least some unease, "Ginny, we are not going to discuss this anymore."  
After they had finished eating and Ginny had gone back to class Mrs. Weasly began to tell them how anxious she'd been when she had found out they were gone. "Arthur and I were beside ourselves with worry! Four students kidnapped from one of the safest places in Britain, one of the safest in the world. Sirius and Jennifer were worried sick too. Dear," she turned to Renata, "your mum is coming by tonight after dinner to see you. Actually she wants to meet with the four of you in the antechamber off the dining hall. We were all so worried. You weren't hurt were you? Any of you?"  
"No, Mrs. Weasly. We're all fine."  
She had heard some version of what had happened, from Dumbledore and they felt it was all she needed to know. They talked a little while longer and just before she left Mrs. Weasly asked if they would be coming to Percy's wedding over the summer, after replying that they'd be delighted to come (Ron actually said something more along the lines of "Do I have to, Mum?") she departed.  
The meeting with Renata's mum was very like to the meeting with Ron's mum except that Professor Delano wished Renata and Harry to stay behind and speak with her.  
"Has anything out of the ordinary happened?"  
Harry thought guiltily about the Three Broomsticks, this woman had genuine concern in her voice. Concern for her daughter, yes, but concern for him too. "No, nothing."  
"No more threatening letters? Nothing of that sort?"  
"No, Professor. Nothing."  
"The Green Flame Torch! Honestly, all but a very select group believed it to be legends."  
Renata's eyes gleamed. "Would that group be the one you, Sirius, and Dumbledore belong to?"  
"As a matter of fact yes. But no more questions from you, young lady. You're all safe? I was so worried."  
Eventually they assured her that they'd all come back fine and Renata and Harry were allowed to leave (though before she let them leave she commented to Harry about his new look), but warned to go straight back to Gryffindor Tower. They weren't likely to find any danger but just in case.  
They walked in silence until it was finally broken, nearly all the way back to Gryffindor Tower, with the words, "I'm sorry."  
"What?" Renata stopped dead in her tracks.  
"You heard me. I'm sorry. Got that? Sorry. I was stupid. I shouldn't have done that and I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking." He scolded himself, You were thinking about how much you like her and hate her at the same time! That's what you were thinking. Idiot. He shook himself mentally; he wasn't making sense. "Just. forgive me?" He did his best to make it sound like a question and not an order.  
She was silent for a long time. Harry worried that maybe he hadn't said it all out loud and that he had only thought it, but if that was the case then why had she stopped? Maybe he had said all of it out loud, including the part about hating her. No, he didn't think he had, and he still trusted his sanity that much.  
At last she did answer. Two words. "Don't apologize."  
"What? I already did."  
"Then take it back! I don't want you to apologize and I certainly don't plan on apologizing so just forget it all!" She was angry. "I said forget it! Don't talk at all. I don't want to hear it." She turned her head away from him. Somehow she sounded both extremely angry and close to tears at the same time.  
A stray thought drifted across Harry's mind, even angry she looks pretty. He could have kicked himself. Stop it! "No. You deserve an apology, I gave you one and I am not taking it back." It was never easy for him to apologize, he found himself apologizing to her more than anyone else but it still didn't make it easier. She was not going to make him waste this apology. Just to spite her he said it again, "I'm sorry."  
"Stop it!" She began to run, straight in the direction of Gryffindor Tower.  
Harry had practice running from his cousin and his cousin's thugs long enough so that he easily caught up with her and grabbed her arm firmly. They were only a few twists and turns of the hallway away from the portrait of the Fat Lady.  
She was crying. Harry knew that even as tight a grip as he had on her arm, it wouldn't cause her to cry. "Renata?" She wouldn't look at him. "Renata?" He used his free hand to tilt up her chin so she looked up at him, she didn't resist. "Don't cry. Please don't cry. What's the matter?"  
"Nothing."  
He knew she was lying. "Tell me what's wrong and maybe I can fix it."  
"You can't. I won't tell you and that's the only way you could fix it. I'm not ready to tell you the truth." She began to cry once more.  
Harry sat down, still holding her arm and she leaned on his shoulder to cry. He patted her back occasionally but mostly just sat there with her leaning on his shoulder in his arms. He was content, but confused. This was Renata. Tough as steel and stones Renata who just didn't cry and certainly not at length like this. In the time that they sat there two ghosts and Professor Dumbledore passed by.  
Somehow Professor Binns didn't notice them at all and the second ghost was Nick. He didn't say anything but just gave Harry a perplexed look. Harry just shook his head.  
When Dumbledore passed by Harry mouthed the words silently, "I think the trip into the other world has finally got to her." It seemed possible, she had remained so composed during the trip, and sometimes things like that just took time to catch up with you. Dumbledore nodded understanding and left as quietly as he had come.  
Eventually her sobs became sniffles and Renata sat up. "I'm sorry."  
"For what?" Harry wondered if she was apologizing for leading him on as she had earlier.  
"For just now. Bawling like a child, sitting here and crying onto your shoulder. Look, I made your robes wet."  
Indeed there was a large damp patch on the shoulder of his robes; he didn't care. She was sorry for crying, not for earlier. "That's okay. It doesn't matter."  
"Yes, it does. I don't cry in front of people so don't tell anyone. Please?" It seemed she had ordered him not to tell anyone and the 'please' had been an afterthought.  
"Alright. Alright." He didn't tell her that her eyes were red from crying. They just sat there silently for a few minutes, slowly the red from crying left Renata's face and she dried here tears on her sleeve.  
"It's late. We better get going," she said.  
Harry got to his feet first and helped her up. They walked back to the Gryffindor common room. It was a school night and although it wasn't terribly late the only ones still down there were Hermione and Ron, playing a game of Wizard Chess and talking quietly. They noticed Renata and Harry as soon as they entered. Ron checkmated Hermione's king and the game ended.  
Hermione stood up, "Harry, could you come talk by the fire with me?"  
Ron indicated the chair Hermione had vacated. "Hey, Renata, I'll play a game of truth for truth with you."  
"How do you play that?" she asked. Taking a step toward the table.  
"Oh it's easy. We play Chess and when you lose a piece I get to ask you a question and you have to answer truthfully. When I lose a piece you ask me a question and I have to answer truthfully."  
She sat down and moved her first piece.  
Harry wanted to hear more of their conversation but Hermione firmly hauled him down by the fireplace, far enough away from the other two not to be able to properly hear them. That is probably why Hermione had suggested this spot.  
"Harry," she said delicately, all but pushing him into his chair, "we want to know something."  
"Who is 'we'? I only see you here. Ron is over there. For all purposes of this discussion there is just you and me."  
"All right then. I want to know something."  
"What do you want to know?"  
"Why you haven't told Renata how you feel about her. We-I mean I-want to know why you won't tell her the truth. I want to know what happened today at the Three Broomsticks between you two." She folded her arms and waited for an answer.  
Harry just sat there trying to figure out what exactly was going on today. Earlier Renata had kissed him and a little while ago she was crying in his arms. Ron had told him to be honest with Renata and now he was trying to get her to be honest to him. Hermione had positively reeked of disapproval this afternoon and now she was sitting here demanding he tell her what had happened as though she were his sister. Harry had always thought of her as a sister though sometimes she acted infuriatingly like a mother. "It doesn't matter," he said at last. "She doesn't like me and if she does she won't tell me. I'm not going to make a fool of myself by telling her first." 


	27. Stalemate

"Harry, what if I told you she likes you and cares about you? A lot. What then?"  
"It wouldn't change anything until she told me it herself, Hermione. You don't understand. She could tell the whole school and it wouldn't matter until she told me. You don't have this problem."  
"Yeah, right I don't. I don't have a guy who cares about me but won't admit it. A guy who obviously likes me but won't tell me so at all. A guy who gets mad at me all the time and calls me a know-it-all," she said sarcastically. Harry winced; he knew she was talking about Ron.  
"Well, it's different." He knew it wasn't different. He didn't care if he was stubborn. He knew he was. Harry glanced at Ron and Renata and saw Renata lose another piece. He asked her something and her face reddened as she answered. "Goodnight, Hermione." He stood up and began to walk in that direction, hoping to catch a few words before he went upstairs.  
She said mildly, behind him, "They've got a cone of silence around them. A kind of soundproof bubble. You can't hear them."  
Harry ignored her and made sure to skirt Renata and Ron's table as he went upstairs. He gritted his teeth; he couldn't hear a thing. ***************************************  
Harry sat alone at breakfast the next morning. His first class would be Transfiguration. He'd have to sit with Renata. The strange thing was that he looked forward to it and dreaded it at the same time. What was he going to do? He sat outside the classroom until Professor McGonagall showed up. When she asked why he was there so early he replied that he wanted to find out about the work he would have to do to catch up. She had just finished listing the assignments when Renata came in.  
"Um, Professor? I was wondering about my missing work." She saw Harry and blinked in surprise.  
"Miss Delano, I just listed all the written assignments for Mr. Potter here and I am sure he will be more than glad to let you borrow his list during or after class. Now allow me to demonstrate." She performed each of the spells. She had discussed about half of them with them when the rest of the class began to filter in. Hermione and Ron came first, Hermione ignored the seat Anthony indicated beside him and moved to the front row with Ron. Harry and Renata on the other hand opted to sit in the very back of the classroom.  
"Here," he said gruffly, shoving the list of assignments at her, "Copy that."  
She nodded and began to write them down.  
Today's lesson was on how to transfigure a rock into a liverwurst sandwich.  
McGonagall warned, "Now, this will still taste for the most part, like a rock, but if you ever find yourself stranded somewhere with no food this will fill you and keep you alive. Begin!"  
Harry looked down at the large stone on his desk and concentrated, saying the words and trying to make it change. He ended up with a sandwich shaped rock.  
Renata did only slightly better. Her rock looked like a sandwich, she sniffed it. "Thoroughly rock," she said. The silence that followed was awkward. This same sort of thing happened in both of the other classes during the day. In Defense Against the Dark Arts Harry got Parvati to trade places with him so he wouldn't have to sit next to Renata.  
Unfortunately it meant he was sitting next to Lavender and she didn't want to shut-up. She was asking a lot of questions about when he and the others had been gone and made numerous observations.  
"Ooh. Look how close Ron and Hermione are sitting. Isn't it sweet?"  
"Yeah. Real sweet," he said sarcastically.  
"Why aren't you sitting with Renata today? Did you two have a fight? You two look so perfect together; I can't imagine why you aren't together. You should, you-"  
"Could you do me a favor, Lavender?"  
"Yes. What?"  
"Shut-up."  
"Okay, I'll be quiet but you really should know this."  
"What?"  
"She really likes you. And she really likes your new look, then again she's not the only one." She gave him a wry grin.  
Harry groaned; this was the absolute last thing he needed. Tonight he was shaving his face before anyone else could comment on it. ******************************************************  
At Quiditch practice things still weren't much better between Harry and Renata.  
Renata helped Harry clear up the rest of the things on the field at the end of practice. "I don't want things to be weird between us, Harry."  
"Neither do I, Renata." He wanted things back to normal again. The four of them just being friends. That would be good. "Let's face it, Renata. Until one of us says something things are going to be strange and that's all there is to it." He thought that had been rather brave of him to say, after all he had no proof of how she felt about him; he hardly understood how he felt about her.  
"You're right about that, Harry." Obviously she wasn't going to say anything to him about it.  
* ************************** *  
Things got progressively better between himself and Renata, for the most part. The only exceptions to this were most times when they found themselves alone together or if Renata caught Harry looking at her in class. Alone together things just got awkward; they tried to make small talk and stay as far apart as possible without seeming obvious but soon one or the other of them always made some excuse to get away and be somewhere else if someone else didn't join them soon. By silent agreement Renata no longer turned up early for Quiditch practice and she always left soon after it ended.  
Some people at least were noticing these changes but said nothing, or almost nothing, about them. Several of his friends gave him odd looks after he had once been staring at Renata for a full three minutes in potions- without her knowing of course-and then ignored her when they both coincidentally got up to wash there knives and spoons and such at the sink at the same time. Harry hated the awkwardness, and sometimes he almost completely forgot it, until it came again. But overall things were going fairly well for him.  
The Quiditch team was strong and knew much more than they had prior to their first game and with their last game of the season approaching, Harry was glad. Though the work was as hard as ever Harry seemed to have few problems with teachers or his classes despite all the work he had had to make up.  
It was the beginning of April now and Harry sat leaning against a tree by the lake and sighed, shutting the book propped up on his knees. He couldn't concentrate on studying. What was he going to do about Renata? Twice more Sirius had approached him and asked if Harry needed to talk. On a weekly basis at least one or more of the boys in his dormitory asked him about her and it was nearly every other day that Ron, Hermione, or Rory approached him on the subject. Renata never said a word and to the best of his knowledge Renata didn't have any knowledge of these confrontations. But sometimes there was a gleam in her eye that said she knew more than she let on. Harry ran his fingers absently around the trunk of the tree, near the bottom his fingers slid over something not like the rest of the bark. Low enough to be hidden by the grass, there were letters carved all along the bottom of the tree: R+H in a continuous circle around the tree's bole.  
Curious certainly. Harry crawled around the tree looking at all the letters hoping for some further clue. The only thing he found was that four of the pairs of letters, each an equal distance apart from the others like the 12, 3, 6, and 9 of a clock, were encircled with a heart. Harry gave another sigh. No clue as to who had carved the letters. It was nerve- racking realizing just how many people shared those initials. Ron could have carved it. Hermione could have carved it. Light, even Renata could have carved it! Light? Where had that come from? His mind drifted toward a book he had read recently, he'd taken more to reading just to avoid Renata. But the books were good all the same. Men in the book often said 'Light' the same way people hear would say 'God' when they were frustrated. Harry wondered at himself. He'd never been terribly religious or anything but somehow it just didn't feel as wrong if he said Light instead of God when he got mad. He'd just have to be careful not to say it aloud; people thought he was strange enough already as it was.  
He tried to puzzle out if there was someway to find out who had carved the initials. No way to. Anything he asked could raise suspicion, "Well, Harry, I think you wrote it. After all R+H could stand for Renata and Harry." The Light send it wasn't so. He'd have to stop that, he changed his mind, he didn't want to use different words. Strange words entered his head and that did little good. Sometimes he doubted his sanity. A sane person wouldn't put up with all he'd been through with Renata this year and all the questions and such from his friends.  
Harry sighed. No use getting around it. He had history of magic tomorrow and he had a lot of studying to do. *********************************************  
In mid-April, about a week and a half later or so, Harry sat down in the common room with Hermione, Ron, and Renata. Hermione had asked them to be here. The common room was nearly empty by now. Harry noted that Hermione's face was anxious and her brows knitted together with worry. He wondered momentarily about what she was going to say. Harry had planned to sit between Hermione and Ron, it wasn't that he wanted them separated or anything, it was just the only way to be sure to avoid Renata. But instead he ended up between Renata and Hermione. Things were not going well.  
"I have something to tell you all." Hermione chewed on her bottom lip nervously unsure of whether or not she wanted to reveal this information. She got a decidedly determined look in her face and began. "My parents don't want me to come back here next year. They told me, when I was in the hospital, that it was too dangerous. I told them I'd be coming back here whether they liked it or not. I told them send me a letter when they are ready to listen to reason, Hogwarts has some way or other of having messages sent through Muggle mail systems forwarded I suppose to Hogwarts, every letter has told me that in no uncertain terms would I be coming back here. I told them that if they weren't going to allow me to come back here. I told them that if I wasn't going to be allowed back to Hogwarts in September they shouldn't expect to find me at the station at they end of term. You've got to help me. I have to be here. Hogwarts.I need Hogwarts."  
Ron put an arm around her to comfort her, Hermione had always been emotional and was near enough to tears now. Harry could understand that, the thought of not coming back to Hogwarts was unpleasant to say the least. Renata came and knelt on the ground in front of her, her hand comfortingly on Hermione's arm, "It's okay, Hermione. My mom will take you. You can stay with me all summer if you like. And I'm connected to the Floo network-I know you aren't, since you're parents are Muggles-and we could keep in touch with Ron and Harry all summer. And Sirius. We'd write to your parents and explain everything except your exact location."  
Harry felt useless. He just sat there and nodded. He was never good with words of comfort. "We won't let them stop you."  
Ron added firmly, "No matter what you're coming back to Hogwarts if that's what you want to do. If you can't stay with Renata and her mum stay with me at the Burrow. Mum loves you and you're already like a sister to Ginny. You could stay with us. We'd all be happy to have you."  
Harry was battling with the decision of whether or not to voice his opinion. In the end he decided to do it. "Hermione, Hogwarts isn't the safest place for you, you know. Not when you're my friend. Your parents are right. What happened this year and every other year has proved it. None of you are safe here. Go home and stay home. Please." Harry meant the words as much for Renata as for Hermione-Ron could take care of himself-the girls could too but still he worried-and he regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth; he had thought he would. He winced, he knew what was coming, and there was a dangerous flash in Hermione's eyes as well as Renata's.  
Renata responded first standing tall and towering over him-he was still sitting down-and she loomed above him, glaring. "You have no right to say that! None whatsoever! You've got no right to order Hermione around. She can come to Hogwarts if she wants, she should come to Hogwarts!"  
He told her irritably, "I meant that for you as much as her, you know." At least this anger of hers was normal, normal for her at least, he added wryly to himself.  
"Me? Oh, the great Harry Potter must think women are delicate and fragile that they need him to tell them what to do and where to go. Well, Hermione is coming back next year and if you think otherwise-"  
Hermione defiantly stared at Harry, "She is right, Harry. I'm your friend and I have been for six years, and I'm not going to abandon you. Not now, not ever. Besides I want to be here to learn. Hogwarts is where I belong." She shifted her glare to Renata. "And Renata, remember that I can fight my own battles. I appreciate that you care but at the same time," she raised an eyebrow and gave a wry smile; Harry wasn't sure what the expression was supposed to mean but Renata seemed to comprehend it, "you know when I can hold my own with these two. I won't let either of them bully me into anything. Under no uncertain terms am I staying away from Hogwarts. Is that clear?"  
Harry mumbled something that she took for agreement and Ron said, "Yes, Hermione. It is, but are you sure? I mean, really Hermione, I wouldn't want you hurt and-"  
"I understand, Ron." Her tone was gentle, but firm and it continued that way, "But at the same time I came to the three of you for help. Help me or not, I've already decided what to do."  
"Then we're behind you all the way." 


	28. Time to Confess

Harry knew very well what would be waiting for him once Hermione and Ron had gone upstairs. Renata had stared at him in such a way that it somehow conveyed to him that he was to remain after they left. She stayed too.  
Harry braced himself for her anger. Sure enough it came, though it wasn't exactly what he expected.  
"Harry, Hermione can take care of herself, and so can I. We don't know you to look after us." Worse than yelling, her voice was cold and distant.  
"I know both of you can take care of yourselves. And that I had no right to say you should both stay home but.I care about you.both. I care about both of you. Hermione's practically my sister."  
"And me?" she asked.  
Harry gritted his teeth. Now that it came down to it what was he supposed to say? He said nothing.  
"What about me, Harry?" She was still standing and he sitting and she leaned down and repeated viciously, "What about me?"  
Rage gripped Harry and he stood up, "Renata, I hate you!"  
"What?" she asked, startled. Clearly she hadn't thought this is what his response would be and must have thought she'd heard him wrong.  
"I hate you." he repeated.  
"W-w-why?" she stammered. Harry could see in her eyes that she was confused. He'd given her no sign that this would be coming.  
"Because.because.because I love you! I hate you for making me fall in love with you! I hate it! It makes me feel helpless!"  
"What?" She blinked in surprise.  
"Helpless because I need you! I hate you because I love you! It tortures me and makes me want to pull out my hair! I love you and I hate you! You lead me on and then verbally abuse me when you don't outright hit me or hex me! I can't take this anymore! We've got to either love each other or hate each other but I can't put up with this anymore! I just can't!" He was surprised to find himself near tears and hysteria. He should stop now, he should have stopped a while ago but now that he'd said all this he couldn't.  
Her eyes widened in further shock.  
"I just can't, Renata. I can't." He took her face in his hands and kissed her deeply. She wasn't fighting him, not anymore at least. At first she had tried to remove his hands from her face but now she just loosely gripped his wrists. When he stopped kissing her, he gently but firmly pushed her away from him and transferred his grip to her shoulders, keeping her from coming any nearer to him again. "Choose. Please, choose. I can't struggle like this anymore. Tell me you love me and I'll the happiest man alive, tell me you hate me and I'll try to get on with life. But please. just choose."  
"I choose you. I love you, too."  
A grin of joy spread across Harry's face. "Really?"  
She nodded.  
Harry moved his hands to her waist, lifted her off the ground, and twirled her around. He laughed and so did she. "Put me down!" she laughed.  
"Why are we both idiots?" he asked still twirling her around and around.  
"I'm not an idiot. Just you."  
He set her down on her feet. "We're both idiots if we were stubborn enough to miss out on this." He kissed her again.  
He heard laughing from behind him and turned around to see Ron as well as the rest of the boys from his dormitory. Hermione stood next to Ron and if she wasn't quite laughing as openly as the rest she was definitely smiling.  
Ron laughed even harder than the rest. "What did I tell you?" he said to Seamus elbowing him in the ribs. "I knew that once they started talking there'd be major snogging going on." He laughed again.  
"You were right," admitted Dean; Seamus nodded agreement.  
"Yeah." Harry smiled fondly at Renata and was pleased when she returned the smile. *********************************************************  
Harry smiled. It had been a week since he had told Renata how he felt. It had been a very good week, there was no longer anything awkward about being alone together and she stopped being so acid toward him (most of the time). She suddenly started showing up to Quiditch practice early again and staying after to help him put away all the team equipment again, and she never objected if Harry stole a kiss or two in an abandoned hallway. Yes, things with Renata had improved but things with everyone else became unpleasant.  
Harry's rant in the common became common knowledge among a good number of Gryffindors and a few students of other houses (mainly fifth years). The guys had been giving him a hard time at first and there were a great many "I told you so's" from the boys in his dormitory who said he should have started dating Renata ages ago and they asked uncomfortable questions; uncomfortable for Harry at least and questions they had no business asking at all. The most common of which was from the boys in his dormitory (except for Anthony) asking if Renata was a good kisser. Harry's only reply was a grin and the words, "I'm not telling and I don't plan on giving you the opportunity to find out for yourself".  
Harry had no choice but to endure their taunting. Ginny became somewhat distant to him. When he pointed this out to Hermione-he was fairly sure that pointing it out to Ron would not have been wise-she answered him, "It could be because she had a crush on you for so long and now you have a girlfriend that's not her. Or maybe it's because Colin Creevy seems to be occupying most of her spare attention. It's probably a combination of the two." At the moment she chose to say this Harry saw that Ginny and Colin were sitting together off to the side of the common room and she suddenly laughed at some joke he had just told.  
There was another new development in the major romances among Harry's friends. Harry had been shocked to come into the common room late Thursday night after meeting with Sirius for a while to discover two of his friends alone in the common room.  
Harry blinked in surprise. The boy sat with an arm around the waist of a bushy haired brunette and the other arm draped over her shoulder, holding her fairly close. The girl held the boy's head with one hand and the other hung limply at her side. They were thoroughly engrossed in kissing one another and didn't notice Harry walk in. He couldn't see their faces but slowly Harry's mind started to make some connections.  
Bushy brown hair.  
Red hair.  
Bushy brown hair. Hermione.  
Red hair. Ron.  
Ron. Hermione. Ron. Hermione. It suddenly dawned on him. His two best friends were down here in the common room kissing each other and if he wasn't mistaken they seemed to have little intention of stopping any time soon. As often as not those two would as soon yell at each other as they gave a kind word. "Ron? Hermione?" He had to repeat their names twice more before either of them looked up at him. Ron had a momentary grin and then he looked rather annoyed at being interrupted. Harry thought Hermione blushed a little when she saw him and realized he'd been standing there. "You two?" he asked, still in disbelief.  
Ron replied, "Yeah. Us. We didn't want to tell you before because you refused to admit you liked Renata and Hermione insisted that it wasn't fair to you to leave you either alone or with Renata the way the two of you were. And since the two of you got together we just never found a good time to tell you. Hermione and I have been dating for several months now."  
Harry wondered how he'd been so oblivious to this. He realized just how much he must have been wrapped up in his own problems. He grunted. Maybe he wasn't as arrogant as Renata claimed he was but he was apparently more self-absorbed than he'd ever realized.  
Thinking back on it Harry was surprised he hadn't noticed it before. That was catch about hindsight; it often did come twenty/twenty and make you wonder how you missed it the first time. ***************************  
After Quiditch practice the next day, the Gryffindor Quiditch team approached Renata and Harry.  
Claire told them, "We need to up the number of practices until our last game."  
"That's right. Our last game is May 4th. That's only a week and a half away you know. We want practice five nights a week," said Ginny.  
Dennis added, "We want to pulverize those Slytherins!"  
There was a general air of agreement with that last statement.  
"Okay. You've got it. Five nights a week. What two nights do you want free?"  
"I suggest Friday and Sunday."  
"Okay. Then I'll be sure to see you at practice tomorrow." The team began to disperse. Harry rubbed his head.  
"What's the matter?" asked Renata.  
"Thinking."  
"Don't think too hard. No wonder you've got a headache." She grinned.  
"My back hurts. I think I've got a knot in it, just here." He indicated a spot just under his left shoulder blade. "Will you.?"  
"Alright, but don't make a habit out of this. Sit down." He knelt down on the ground and she started massaging his back. "How are you going to handle extra Quiditch practice on top of all your school work? The final exams are coming if you haven't forgotten."  
"How can I forget? Hermione already started drawing up a study schedule for the four of us." Harry closed his eyes. This was nice. He could sit here forever with Renata massaging his back. He didn't want to move from this spot. "I love you, Renata," he murmured.  
"I love you, too. Come on. It's time to go inside."  
They stood up and walked back to the castle. Harry stole a kiss or two on the way to the common room. Once they reached the common room they settled down by Ron and Hermione to try and muddle through their Herbology homework.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay what do you think? Kinda cheesy and mushy I know, don't kill me over it. 


	29. Hard Times

Harry had a hard time concentrating on his Defense Against the Dark Arts assignment. Between feeling increasingly ill and his standard worrying over an upcoming Quiditch match, Harry could hardly concentrate at all. It was no wonder that he couldn't manage the spell they were working on. The spell would allow a wizard to sense a nearby spell. A good way to know if someone had set a trap on a room you were about to walk into.  
Unfortunately Harry was having a lot of trouble with this; Sirius blamed Renata for it. "Harry, could you bring me one of your spare quills I seem to have lost mine?" When Harry reached his desk Sirius whispered, "Harry, I don't think you're concentrating hard enough on your work."  
"Well, I am having trouble concentrating. It's that-"  
"I think it's because you're paying too much attention to Renata. Now may not be the best time for you to have girlfriend. After all, finals are really just around the corner and you've been busy with Quiditch practice and.work with Hermione today in class. I think it's better that way so you'll be less likely distracted and she should be able to help with your work. Go back to your seat, er, Ron's seat." He raised his voice back to normal sound level. "Ron, trade places with Harry."  
Looking a little disgruntled Ron stood and went to go sit by Renata. Hermione worked with him the whole rest of class but Harry still couldn't manage the spell. At the end of class Harry packed up his things and Sirius asked him to wait.  
"Yes, Professor Black?"  
"Harry, I don't think it's wise for you to keep dating Renata. Not right now. Wait 'til this summer. She'll still be there. Your other teachers have told me you're slipping in their classes too."  
"Sirius, Renata has very little to do with any of that. I've been up late because of Quiditch and increasingly large loads of homework. The team asked for more practices and the teachers always assign more work at the end of the year. And to top it off I've been feeling sick the last few days. I'm just getting a cold or something but it's miserable but I'm not chancing Madam Pomfrey keeping me out of that game. We are going to beat the Slytherins tomorrow."  
Sirius sighed. "Between Quiditch and homework you aren't getting enough rest. But don't give up the homework! For a while there you were turning in the best work I'd ever seen from you and now you're back to driving your self too hard and in too many directions. The quality of your work is suffering. And if you don't get enough rest tonight your game will suffer tomorrow."  
Harry asked, "Is that all? I'm hungry."  
"Yeah, Harry. That's all. Go to lunch."  
Harry noticed that Sirius looked as tired as he felt. He was obviously working himself too hard. Harry didn't have to be told to know that Sirius still worked for the Order of the Phoenix in any way that he could. Harry also knew that Sirius disappeared sometimes with no explanation and that he was at meetings for the Order or carrying out some form of business for it. Harry seen notes and messages Sirius got telling him to spy on one teacher or student even if the word "spy" wasn't exactly used. But Sirius didn't bring it up and neither did Harry. He just walked away.  
  
*****************************************  
  
That night Harry came down to the common room to pace. He had begun up in his dormitory but after an hour Seamus had told him that just because he wasn't going to get any rest didn't mean the rest of them should have to suffer too. So here he was. Pacing back and forward in front of the dying fire. Ten paces, then turn and pace in the other direction.  
Suddenly he turned and found himself face to face with Renata.  
"How did you.?"  
"You forget how well I know your mind. I'm the only one who can truly comprehend your cognitive functions. You haven't gotten much rest lately and with a big game tomorrow where else would you be but down here worrying about it? Heaven forbid you actually do the sensible thing and go upstairs and get some rest." She rolled her eyes.  
"Oh."  
"Go. Now. March."  
He sneezed.  
"Now. You're sick and if unless you want to be worth more than dead fish tomorrow you'll go upstairs now."  
"Alright, alright," he muttered.  
"And I mean it. I want you to sleep. Not pace or lying in bed worrying about the match."  
Harry went upstairs and as he crawled under the covers. His last thought before sleep claimed him was, don't worry, don't worry, don't worry.  
  
************************************************  
  
Harry stood on the edge of the Quiditch field. He'd given the team their pre-game talk to encourage them and truth be told they felt less nervous than he did. Harry was ready to lose what little breakfast he had managed to choke down. They had to beat Slytherin. They just had to.  
One moment Harry found himself shaking hands with Malfoy and glaring at him and after that things passed by in a blur. Harry had to dodge Bludgers more times than he could count, despite the efforts of Daphne and Claire to keep all Gryffindors free of Bludgers; he found at lost sight of the Snitch 3 times; and barely heard when Colin announced that Gryffindor was in the lead by a hundred and ten points and the Slytherins had only scored once. Harry hardly noticed. He kept his eyes peeled for the Snitch, all the while gripping his stomach where Malfoy had taken the club from one of the Beaters and beat Harry with it. He'd come up from behind otherwise Harry would have seen him.  
At last, Harry saw it again. The Snitch. Malfoy was flirting with the only girl on the Slytherin team, not paying the least bit of attention to Harry or his surroundings. Harry went into a steep dive after the Snitch. Nearly there.fingers nearly there.he's fingers clasped themselves firmly around the walnut-sized Golden Snitch. He had it. "Game! Game over! We have it!" He pulled out of his dive at a sharp angle and rose into the air. He was assaulted by the other Gryffindors on brooms all coming toward him. The seven of them sank to the ground in a massive group hug.  
The stadium exploded with cheers (except from the Slytherins). Ginny roared, "Party in the Common Room! Gryffindors! Party in the Common Room!"  
  
***************************************  
  
Harry didn't wake up until nearly noon on Sunday, and when he did he felt miserable. Ginny's little party in the Common Room had been even more extravagant than some of the ones Fred and George had thrown. The Butterbeer, sweets, and all around junk food were there in mass quantities with loud music. Apparently a group of fourth years that had a band; two of the boys played guitar, there was a girl on drums, and another girl singing. A seventh year named Amanda even conjured a stage for them. Most of the Gryffindors sat and ate, drank Butterbeer, and some even got up the nerve to dance.  
Harry stayed, enjoying the festivities until about one in the morning; when he left a fair number of people were still down there. Somebody put a charm on the portrait hole door to keep noise from the party from spreading out into the hall but nobody had bothered to put the spell on the doors to the dormitories and Harry could hear the noise still as he tried to fall asleep. It was nearing four when the festivities finally wound down.  
Harry rubbed his eyes groggily; he didn't want to get up at all. He felt sick. "Accio trashcan!" he moaned. He had just grasped the trashcan and brought his face over it when he retched.  
Half an hour later Ron came upstairs. "Harry, are you alright?" He saw him. "Harry! You look like death!"  
Harry groaned. His ears were ringing.  
"That's it, Harry. I'm taking you to the nurse. You're going to infect everybody." Ron took Harry's hand and helped him downstairs.  
Harry felt weak, and overall ill.  
Hermione and Renata were downstairs. Oh, no. He thought. Why does Renata have to see me like this?  
"Come on, girls. We're going to be helping Harry to visit Madam Pomfrey before the rest of us end up like him."  
They led him to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey took one look at him and condemned him to three days minimum in the hospital wing and medication every three hours. Harry wasn't sure he was going to be able to stand another minute. As he swayed dangerously on his feet, Madam Pomfrey and the others eased him down on one of the beds. "Did he eat anything recently to make him sick like this?"  
"No, I don't think so."  
"It's just work overload and stress, Madam Pomfrey. He's been really busy with Quiditch and schoolwork. He's just having a difficult time taking care of it all and still managing to get proper rest. I guess it all just became too much and now he's crashed and gotten sick."  
"Well I'll be keeping a closer eye on him from now on."  
Harry watched Ron and Hermione walk away but Renata remained behind. Madam Pomfrey made Harry swallow a steaming goblet of some vile tasting potion. He was very sleepy again. He could feel Renata holding his hand as he fell asleep and he knew she wasn't in the chair beside his bed.  
When he woke up he had a feeling it was quite a bit later than when he'd come in. He felt rather better. Renata was still there.  
"Harry, I've got something to say."  
"Yeah? It's been so great having you here the last three days. It's meant a lot."  
"That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about, Harry. I don't think it's a good idea for us to keep dating. Not right now. Sirius was right. I'm a distraction. Beside you've got enough on your plate with schoolwork and Quiditch. Maybe we can try dating some other time, maybe next year. But right now you've got to concentrate on your work."  
"But."  
"I'm sorry, Harry. It's over." She kissed him on the cheek and walked away.  
Harry was miserable. He was more distracted not dating her than he'd been when he was dating her.  
Sirius came up to him after class one day. "Harry, I really think you should break up with Renata. I won't deny that she's a great girl and everything but I already warned you once and no you seem to be having an even worse time getting your work done. Really. You don't want to fail your final exams. And I just think-"  
"It's too late. She already dumped me."  
"What?"  
"She broke up with."  
"When?"  
"Two weeks ago."  
"And you're still moping?"  
"Yes."  
"Harry, you've got learn to be friends with her again. You're going to be in the same classes with her, the same common room, and on the same Quiditch team. You've got to learn how to get over this."  
"But I miss her."  
"Then you've got to figure out how you're going to see her without hurting yourself like this. I don't like seeing you in pain."  
"Maybe you're right. Got any advice? I could use some right about now."  
"Okay. Pretend it's last year. Last year you weren't dating her but you were really good friends. Just try to go back to that."  
"It's hard though. Last year Ron and Hermione weren't dating too. Last year I had somebody to hang out with."  
"Well there are going to be other girls, Harry. You'll just have to deal with this."  
"Yeah. Right." Harry made his way glumly back to the common room.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please don't hate me! This story has a sequel and.okay I guess I have no good excuse. Although I guess anybody who hated Renata is very happy right about now. 


	30. More Broken Hearts

Harry came into the common room that night, reluctant to start his homework. Neville saw him immediately and caught his arm. "Harry, there's something wrong with Ron. He's up in the dorm. He wouldn't let me in. Maybe you.?"  
"Yeah. Alright." Harry went upstairs and knocked on the door.  
"Go away!"  
"Ron, let me in right now."  
"Harry? Go away!"  
"Ron, don't make me break in here."  
"Just.leave!"  
"Alohamora!" he whispered. The door opened.  
Harry saw Ron sitting on his bed, crying. Harry went and sat down next to him.  
"She dumped me," he said dumbly.  
"What? Hermione dumped you? She's crazy! What'd she do that for?"  
"Apparently her grades are slipping."  
"Since when?"  
"Since for once she didn't get the highest mark in our grade. Some Ravenclaw did better on a Charms test."  
"Ouch."  
"Yeah."  
"So what happened?"  
"Well, she came up to me tonight in the common room, said she didn't want to say this but didn't have a choice. Then she told me that she still cared about me but I was a distraction!"  
"At least you got an 'I still care about you'. Renata told me that she was distracting me and she had to break up with me for my own good."  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know, I know, it's lame but this is what you get when you have to make it fit with another story afterwards. Sorry. 


	31. Goodbyes

Harry and Ron decided that the best way to get over Hermione and Renata was for the four of them to hang out together as they'd done the past years. Gradually things did return to normal. Exam stress helped return things too normal because the fact was, it was just too stressful to bother worrying about girlfriends or dating when you were trying to remember everything you'd learned all year.  
Harry felt he'd done fairly well on the exams, or at least he'd hoped he had.  
At any rate, once post exam time kicked in things just seemed to roll by so quickly that before he knew it, it was the end of year feast.  
"Another year has gone! And with it we have lost a life very precious to us, that of our Care of Magical Creatures professor and groundskeeper, Rubeus Hagrid. A moment of silence." He paused, "Let us raise our goblets, to Hagrid!" Most students did this, and waited for him to continue. "If you forget all else this summer remember this: A life lost cannot be regained, even an innocent life. Every moment is precious and any moment could be your last. Or my last. Let the feast commence! Fill your bellies tonight as we have strived to fill your heads this past year." Food appeared on the gleaming plates.  
Hermione leaned over and said, "He makes a lot of valid points."  
Harry said nothing. It was too true. Everything that had happened, there was no going back. His parents were dead. He'd come to terms with that some time ago. Cedric was dead. He was beginning to move on from this. But Hagrid's death, this was still too new. Harry ate mostly in silence. He didn't have anything much to look forward to this summer. He was just going back to the Dursleys. If he was lucky, maybe he'd get to see Ron and Hermione, or Sirius.  
At the end of the feast Professor Dumbledore stood again, "I would like to thank the students that spent this year here with us instead of at their school, and the students from our beloved Hogwarts who went to participate at the other schools. The students from Durmstrang, Beauxbatons, Salem, and Angel's Academy will be returning to their schools directly after the feast. Our four Hogwarts students have returned and I invite them to stand."  
Harry just noticed Neville at the end of the table. Neville stood as well as one other student at each table.  
"Have a wonderful summer everyone!"  
They dispersed Harry went back to his dorm to pack and was soon finished.  
  
The next day they took the train home. The train ride was uneventful but when they got off the train, and went back to the Muggle part of the station. Renata said quietly, "Maybe I'll see you this summer, Harry?"  
"Renata, it's just too painful. Either you want to be with me or you don't."  
She didn't answer.  
Mrs. Weasley came over, her children flocking around her, and gave Harry a tight hug. "Had a good term?"  
"Yes, Mrs. Weasley."  
"Good. You'll have to come visit this summer."  
"Bye, Harry."  
"Bye, Ron."  
Hermione's parents were coming toward them now too. "I've got to go, but I want both of you to be sure to write!"  
"Sure thing, Hermione," they said.  
"Bye, everybody!" said Renata, hugging them each in turn. "My mom's waiting over there."  
They all departed, taking their separate ways.  
Harry stood, standing alone.  
Sirius came up behind him, a large hat pulled down over his face. After all, he was still wanted by the Muggle police. "I'm driving you home, Harry. You have to go to the Dursleys. I won't get out of the car, too much chance one of their neighbors could see me. Come on."  
"Where'd you get a car?"  
"Borrowed it from my friend Fletcher."  
"Oh."  
"C'mon."  
Harry smiled and followed his godfather out of the station. 


	32. The End

THE END  
  
Alright, the nightmare is finally over. Read and Review please? Harry Potter and the Shadow Fortress, I made some mistakes, so I got to fix that. Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!  
  
TeenTypist 


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